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Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  DlrstOld  York  Library 


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THE  WORLD 

OF 

SCIENCE,  ART,  AND  INDUSTRY 

ILLUSTRATED 

FROM  EXAMPLES 

IN  THE  NEW-YORK  EXHIBITION,  1853-54. 

EDITED  BY 

Prof.  B.  SILLIMAN,  Jr.,  and  C.  R.  GOODRICH,  Esq. 

AIDED    BY    SEVERAL    SCIENTIFIC    AND    LITERARY  MEN. 

WITH  500  ILLUSTRATIONS, 

UNDER  THE  SUPERINTENDENCE  OF  C.  E.  DOPLER,  ESQ. 


NEW-YORK: 
G.   P.   PUTNAM   AND  COMPANY. 

M.DCCC.LI V. 


-M — 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1854,  by 
G.  P.  PUTNAM  &  CO, 

in  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern  District  of  New- York. 


JOHN  F.  TKOW, 

Plllf  II     AND  eTKEKOTVl'Ilt 

49  Ann  Stroet,  New-York. 


t 


PUBLISHERS'  NOTICE. 


rpHE  Editors  of  this  work  will  give,  in  the  preface,  a  statement  of  the  plan  and  purpose  of  their  labors ;  but  the 
Publishers  may  be  allowed  to  speak  with  some  pride  of  their  own  part  in  the  production  of  a  volume,  unique  in 
this  country,  and  upon  which  they  have  expended  an  amount  of  time,  care,  and  money,  which,  if  devoted  to  other 
objects,  would  certainly  have  produced  a  much  greater  pecuniary  return.  Few,  indeed,  not  familiar  with  the  details 
of  a  publisher's  business,  the  difficulty  of  procuring  competent  artists  and  engravers,  the  high  price  which  must  be 
paid  for  the  labors  of  such  needful  assistants,  and  the  apparently  inevitable  and  costly  mistakes  which  always  occur 
in  the  progress  of  a  large  illustrated  work,  can  have  any  adequate  conception  of  the  laborious  details,  the  continued 
anxiety,  and  the  large  expense  attending  such  a  publication ;  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  give  a  just  idea  of  it  within 
the  proper  limits  of  such  a  notice  as  this. 

The  work  was  undertaken  with  the  determination  that  it  should  be  carried  on  impartially,  thoroughly,  and 
independently;  that  the  best  artists  and  engravers  in  the  country  should  be  employed  on  their  own  terms; 
that  no  partiality  should  be  purchased  by  those  whose  works  are  criticised  or  illustrated;  that  the  best 
accessible  information  and  assistance  should  be  obtained  for  the  editorial  department ;  that  the  whole  work 
should  be  prepared  with  reference  to  its  general  and  permanent  value;  the  present  Exhibition  being  used  merely 
to  furnish  a  text  and  examples  for  the  illustration  of  general  principles.  This  plan  has  been  conscientiously  adhered 
to.  Without  any  aid  or  favor  whatever  from  the  government  of  the  Exhibition,  or  from  the  Exhibitors  them- 
selves,— access  to  the  articles  only  excepted, — the  undersigned  have  caused  whatever  was  deemed  worthy  of  illustra- 
tion to  be  daguerreotyped,  drawn  and  engraved,  (excepting  in  one  or  two  trifling  instances,)  solely  at  their  own  expense. 

The  whole  cost  of  the  volume  thus  produced,  exceeds  Forty  Thousand  Dollars.  But  the  publishers  have 
at  least  the  satisfaction  of  knowing,  that  whatever  degree  of  favor  it  may  meet  with,  it  has  been  prepared 
carefully,  impartially,  honestly,  and  without  fear  or  favor ;  and  that  its  criticisms  cannot  have  any  the  less 
weight  or  value,  from  the  fact  that  they  have  been  beyond  the  influence  of  merely  selfish  considerations. 

Of  the  504  engravings  on  Avood  contained  in  this  work  (one  hundred,  by  the  way — costing  about  $3,000 — 
more  than  our  prospectus  promised  to  subscribers),  four-fifths  have  been  engraved  in  New-York,  and  chiefly  by 
American  engravers.  It  could  not  be  supposed  that  this  art,  any  more  than  others,  has  yet  had  time  to 
attain  perfection  in  this  country ;  but  many  of  the  specimens  in  our  volume  indicate  a  respectable  progress,  if, 
indeed,  they  surfer  in  comparison  with  those  of  the  admirable  work  which  was  partly  our  model — the  Lon- 
don Art  Journal — to  the  accomplished  editor  of  which,  S.  C.  Hall,  Esq.,-  we  take  the  opportunity  of  returning 
thanks  for  practical  courtesies  and  friendly  suggestions. 


PUBLISHERS'  NOTICE. 


Of  these  504  Illustrations, 


64 

are 

devoted 

to  Sculpture,  Bas-Kelieis,  <fcc. 

120 

u 

u 

"  Manufactures  in  Metals,  Bronzes,  and  Silver  Ware. 

17 

(i 

a 

"  Textile  Fabrics. 

90 

u 

U 

"  Ornamental  Furniture.  » 

80 

u 

11 

• 

"  Porgelain,  Terra-Cotta,  and  Glass  Ware. 

40 

u 

u 

"  Machinery,  Models,  &c. 

93 

11 

g 

"  Miscellaneous  Articles,  Interior  Views,  &c. 

The  letter-press  includes  papers  on  subjects  of  Scientific  and  Practical  interest,  by  some  of  our  most  com- 
petent original  investigators. 

The  whole  volume  furnishes  information  and  examples  which  may  be  practically  useful  to  a  great  variety 
of  theoretical  and  practical  men — to  sculptors,  designers,  and  engravers — to  manufacturers  and  machinists— silver- 
smiths and  metal  founders — to  ship-builders  and  cabinet-makers,  and  many  others  engaged  in  the  various 
mechanical  and  artistic  pursuits ;  while  as  a  drawing-room  table-book,  it  may  also  prove  attractive  and  useful 
to  families — suggestive  as  it  is  of  the  sources  of  information  on  the  various  branches  of  science  and  human 
industry,  and  of  the  principles  of  taste  which  should  govern  in  the  ornamental  and  useful  arts.  In  truth,  it  is 
a  copiously  and  beautifully  illustrated  Encyclopedia  of  Manufactures  and  the  Fine  and  Useful  Arts ;  uniting  to  a 
brief  but  comprehensive  history  of  each  particular  subject  up  to  the  date  of  publication,  the  theoretical  and 
critical  views  of  distinguished  gentlemen  who  have  made  those  subjects  their  special  study.  We  are  not 
aware  that  any  other  work  of  the  kind  can  be  mentioned  which  gives  so  much  valuable  information  and 
expensive  illustration  at  so  low  a  price.  We  confidently  assert  that  when  the  expense  of  its  production  is 
considered,  no  similar  book  excels  it  in  cheapness.  We  have  aimed  to  place  it  within  the  reach  of  all  classes. 
As  already  mentioned,  we  have  presented  the  subscribers  to  this  work  with  several  pages — including  100 
engravings,  over  and  above  the  number  they  were  entitled  to  expect.  Several  other  illustrations,  for  which 
we  could  not  here  find  room,  will  be  given  in  the  Descriptive  and  Annotated  Catalogue  of  the  Exhibition — 
in  which  the  machinery  especially  will  be  more  fully  described. 

The  publishers  would  merely  add  their  acknowledgments  to  those  who  have  had  a  part  in  the  produc- 
tion of  this  volume.  The  paper,  supplied  from  H.  V.  Butler  &  Co.'s  mills  in  New  Jersey ;  the  type  from 
J.  T.  White's  foundry  in  New- York;  the  typography,  stereotyping,  and  printing,  from  the  extensive  establishment 
of  J.  F.  Trow,  are  all,  it  is  believed,  worthy  to  be  compared  with  those  of  similar  works  produced  in  Eng- 
land or  France.  The  drawings  have  been  made  under  the  able  superintendence  of  Mr.  C.  E.  Dopler,  from 
daguerreotypes  by  Mr.  H.  Whittemore.  The  names  of  the  engravers  are,  in  most  instances,  affixed -to  each 
illustration ;  and  the  rates  they  have  been  paid  would  seem  to  indicate  general  prosperity  in  this  branch  of  art 
if  in  no  other.  As  to  the  Editors,  their  judicious  and  discriminating  industry  and  ability  are  sufficiently  indicated 
in  the  pages  of  the  work. 


PAGE 

Proposed  Plans  for  the  Building,   1 

Ground  Plan  and  Description  of  the  Building,   3 

Introductory,   5 

The  Cotton  Gin,  .      .   7 

The  British  Commission,  .,      .      .      .  9 

Interior  Decoration,   10 

The  Crystal  Palace  at  Sydenham,  (England,)   11 

Biram's  Anemometer,   12 

Art,   29 

Glass  Painting,   29 

Thorwaldsen:  Christ  and  the  Apostles,   31 

Wines  of  Onio,   32 

Whitwohth's  Measuring  Machine,   33 

Opening  of  the  New- York  Exhibition,   34 

Maroohetti's  Washington,   35 

Cary's  Rotary  Pump,   36 

Benefits  of  the  Exhibition  to  American  Art,   37 

Bookbinding,   37 

United  States  Coast  Survey,  (Historical  Sketch,)   39 

Saxton's  Metallic  Deep-Sea  Thermometer,   42 

Type  Founding,   43 

Assignment  of  Space,   44 

The  Electrotype  Process,   53 

Bridges,   55 

Pennsylvania  Minerals,   57 

Adams's  &  Taylor's  Printing  Presses,   60 


PAGE 

Rice  and  its  Culture  in  the  United  States,   69 

Foliaceous  Fibres  of  American  Endogenous  Plants,       ....  71 

East  India  Tropical  Fibres,   73 

WniTWORTn's  Mode  of  Producing  Plane  Metallic  Surfaces,    ...  74 

TnE  Wild  Rice  of  Minnesota,   76 

Mosaics,   83 

The  Chromatic  Decoration  of  the  Crystal  Palaoe,   84 

Ultramarine,   86 

Naval  Architecture,   87 

Life-Boats,   90 

Tides  and  Tide-Gauges,   99 

Government  SonooLs  of  Ornamental  Art  in  England,     .      .      .  .101 

Electric  Telegraphs,   105 

The  American  Ephemeris  and  Nautical  Almanac,   115 

Standard  Weights  and  Measures,   117 

Latitudes  and  Longitudes,   121 

Lithography,   131 

Flax  and  Hemp  Breaking  and  Cleaning  Machinery,       ....  135 

Royal  Manufactory  of  the  Gobelins,   136 

The  Fresnel  i,ENS,   145 

Glass,   150 

Bank-Note  Engraving,   156 

The  Fine  Arts— Sculpture,   177 

Engraving,   179 

Ornamental  Furniture,   182 

Porcelain  and  other  Ceramio  Manufactures,   186 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

ARCHITECTURAL  SECTION  OF  THE  DOME,                                                                                                                                          .       .       .       .  PA°6 

INTERIOR  VIEW  No.  1   f 

INTERIOR  VIEW  No.  2.    '.   10 

INTERIOR  VIEW  No.  3 :  THE  INAUGURATION,   34 

MINTON'S  ENCAUSTIC  TILES   166 


SECTION  I.  STATUARY,  BAS-RELIEFS,  ETC. 

Christ  and  the  Apostles;  originals  by  Thorwaldsen.  E.  Becli,  New- 
Ganymede  ;  statue  by  Thorwaldsen.    E.  Bech,  New-  York, 
Washington  ;  equestrian  statue  in  plaster.    Marochetti,  London, 
TnE  Greek  Slave,  by  Powers.    H.  Powers,  Florence, 
Eve,  by  Powers.    J.  L.  Preston,  Columbus,  8.  C. 
Proserpine;  Ideal  bust  by  Powers.    S.  Brooks,  New- York, 
The  FisnER  Boy.    S.  Brooks,  New-  York, 
Amazon  attacked  by  a  Tiger  ;  zinc  statue.    Kiss,  Berlin, 


York, 


PAGE 

24 
18 
25 
197 
197 
196 
91 
14 


Eve  after  the  Fall  ;  statue.    P.  Pagani,  Milan, 
Adam  and  Eve  ;  group  in  plaster.    Prof.  Jerichau,  Copenhagen, 
Lovers  going  to  the  Well  ;  group  in  marble.    T.  Lazzerini,  Carrara, 
Hagar  and  Ishmael  ;  statue.    L.  Caselli,  Florence, 
The  Son  of  Tell  ;  statue.    P.  Romanelli,  do. 
Cupid  Mischievous  ;  statue.     E.  Santarelli,  do. 
St.  JonN ;  statue.    E.  Barratta.  Carrara, 
The  Minstrel's  Curse  ;  statue.    C.  Muller,  New-  York, 
The  Guardian  Angel  ;  statue.    L.  Bienaim&,  Rome,  . 
Caritas  ;  statue.    J.  E.  Von  Bandel,  England,  . 


PAGE 

82 
165 
165 
92 
79 
144 
124 
124 
110 
124 


TABLE  OF 


CONTENTS. 


Columbus  ;  statue.    Staffetti,  Carrara, 
Vents  ;  plaster  statue.    Nannetti,  Dublin,  . 
Virgin  and  Child  ;  plaster.    G.  Nannetti,  Dublin, 
The  Eagle  and  Child;  plaster  model.    Le  Chesne,  Paris, 
Lesbia  ;  statue.    L'Eveque,  Paris,  .... 
Cupid  Captive  ;  statue.    Fraikin,  Brussels, 
Rebecca  ;  statue.    E.  Vasse,  Florence, 
Sleeping  St.  John;  statue.    L.  Magi,  Florence, 
Erminia  ;  statue.    Pelliccia,  Carrara,  < 
The  Deserted;  statue.    G.  Motelli,  Milan, 
Genius  of  Spring;  statue.    Pelliccia,  Carrara, 
The  Emigrant  ;  statue.    Lawlor,  London, 
Atala  and  Chaotas  ;  statue.    Fraccaroli,  Milan, 
Dancing  Girl  Reposing  ;  statue.    Marshall,  London, 
First  WnisPEE  of  Love;  statue.    Marshall,  London, 
Boy  and  Tortoise  ;  marble  statuette.    G.  Croff,  Milan, 
Boy  and  Lobster  ;  marble  statuette.    G.  Croff,  Milan, 
Statue  of  a  Boy.    A.  Piatti,  New  York, 
Prayer  ;  an  ideal  bust.    A.  Galli,  Milan,  . 
The  Betrothed  ;  ideal  bust.    P.  Romauelli,  Florence, 
Bust  of  Daniel  "Webster.    A.  Piatti,  New- York, 
Veiled  Bust.    G.  Croff,  Milan,  .... 
Sleeping  CniLD  ;  statue.    A.  Piatti,  New-  York, 
Bas-Relief  ;  in  marble.    Zaccagna,  Carrara, 
Cage  of  Cupids  ;  marble.    G.  Motelli,  Milan, 
Nymph  ;  terra  cotta  statue.    A.  Boni,  Milan, 
Bas  Relief  ;  in  plaster.    F.  TV.  Dankberg, 
Militaby  Trophy  ;  marble  bas-relief.    C.  Bollo,  Genoa, 
Warwick  Vase.    N.  Marchetti,  Carrara, 
Shepherd  attacked  by  a  Leopard  ;  group  in  zinc.    J.  Franz,  Berlin, 
The  Sentinel  ;  a  dog  in  bronze.    T.  F.  Hoppin,  Providence,  R.  I. 
Statue  in  bronze.    H.  K.  Browne,  Brooklyn, 
Basket  Carrier  ;  zinc  statue.    Geiss,  Berlin,  . 
Venus  Stepping  into  the  Bath  ;  bronze.    H.  Gasser,  Vienna, 
Groups  in  Terra  Cotta.    P.  A.  Graillon,  France, 

Mosaic  Table.    F.  Betti,  Florence,  

Mosaic  Picture.    T.  Garassino,  Sardinia, 

Compline  Psalms  ;  illuminated.    G.  P.  Putnam  &  Co.,  New-  York, 


l'AOE 

124 
175 
110 
163 
164 
200 
194 
77 
61 
77 
46 
48 
46 
27 
27 
63 
63 
65 
76 
196 
175 
78 
13 
63 
50 
50 
192 
109 
91 
112 
51 
113 
160 
113 
96,  97 
98 
166 
68 


SECTION  II. — WORKS  IN  THE  PRECIOUS  METALS,  BRONZES.  &c. 


Swiney  Cup  ;  silver.    Society  of  Arts,  London,  

Salver  ;  in  silver.    Garrard,   London, 

Saracen  and  Crusader  ;  silver  centre  piece.    Garrard,  do.  . 

Don  Quixotte  and  the  Duchess  ;  silver  centre  piece.    Garrard,  do.  . 

Ababs  in  the  Desert  ;  silver  centre  piece.    Garrard,  London. 

Landing  of  the  Pilgrims  ;  silver.    Garrard,  d5.  . 

The  Challenge  ;  silver  vase.    Garrard,  do.  . 

Testimonial  to  Dr.  Conolly  ;  silver.    Hunt  &  Roskell,  do.  . 

Centre  Ornament  and  Plateau  ;  silver.    Hunt  &  Roskell,  do.  . 

Elizabethan  Vase  ;  silver.    Hunt  &  Roskell,  do.  . 

Ice  Pail;  silver.    Hunt  &  Roskell,  do.  . 

Wine  Vase  ;  silver.    Hunt  &  Roskell,  do.  . 

Coffee  Pot  ;  silver  gilt.    Hunt  &  Roskell,  do.  . 

Asiette  Montee  ;  silver  gilt.    Hunt  &  Roskell,  do.  . 

Coffee  Pot,  Fruit  Dish,  &o.  ;  silver.    Hunt  &  Roskell,  do.  . 

Epergne;  electroplated.    T.  Sharpe,  do.  . 

Shakspeare  Cup;  model  to  be  executed  in  gold.    T.  Sharpe,      do.  . 

Clock  Case  ;  modelled  in  plaster.    T.  Sharpe,  do.  . 

Claret  Jugs  ;  silver.    J.  Angel,  do.  . 

Casket  ;  silver.   J.  Angel,  do.  . 

Centre  Piece  ;  silver  gilt.    J.  Angel,  do.  . 

Halt  in  the  Desert  ;  silver  centre  piece.   J.  Angel,  do.  . 

Cake  Basket;  silver.    J.  Angel,  do.  . 

Europe  ;  silver  gilt  centre  piece.   J.  Angel,  do.  . 

Tea  Service,  &o  ;  group  of  silver.    J.  Angel,  do.  . 

Sir  R.  De  Coverley  and  the  Gypsies.    J.  Angel,  do.  . 

Victoria  Salver;  silver.  J.  Angel,  do.  . 
Iliad  Salver.  Elkington  &  Co.,  Birmingham,  England, 
Sideboard  Dish.  Elkington  &  Co.,  do. 
Race  Plate.  Elkington  &  Co.,  do. 
Vases  ;  silver  mounted.  Elkington  &  Co.,  do. 
Antique  Vase;  oxydized  silver.  Elkington  &  Co.,  do. 
Fruit  Dish  ;  silver.  Elkington  &  Co.,  do. 
Rebecca  at  the  Well  ;  silver.   Elkington  &  Co.,  do. 

viil 


13 
64 
80 
81 
144 
194 
208 
79 
126 
127 
127 
127 
127 
128 
128 
13 
22 
27 
18 
22 
23 
28 
28 
50 
50 
157 
113 
206 
206 
206 
207 
207 
208 
207 


Lerolle, 


do 
do 
do. 
do 
do 
do, 
do 
do 
do 
do. 
do 
do 
do 
do 
do 
do. 


Lily  Centre  Piece.    Elkington  &  Co.,  Birmingham,  England, 
Groups  of  Vases  ;  oxydised  silver.  Elkington  &  Co.,  do. 
Cupid  Wrrn  the  Lyre  ;  bronze.    Elkington  &  Co.,  do. 
Antique  Dagger  and  Candlestick.  Elkington  &  Co.,  do. 
Bust  of  Wellington.    Elkington  &  Co.,  do. 
Conversion  of  the  Saracen  ;  bronze  clock.    Lerolle,  Paris, 
Candelabra  ;  bronze.  Lerolle, 
Candelabrum,  with  Bacchante  after  Canova 
Bronze  Vases.  Lerolle, 
Bronze  Clocks.  Lerolle, 
Chandelier  ;  bronze  gilt.  Lerolle, 
Bacohanalian  Vase  ;  bronze.  Lerolle, 
Boar  Hunt  ;  bronze  casting.    A.  Weygand, 
Arab  in  Ambush  ;  bronze.  Weygand, 
Bronze  and  Porcelain  Clock.  Weygand, 
Wild  Horses  ;  group  in  bronze.  Weygand, 
Bronze  Clocks.    Duplan  &  Salles, 
Dying  Heron  ;  bronze.    Duplan  &  Salles, 
Three  Bronze  Vase3  ;  after  Cellini.    Villemsens  &  Co., 
Chalices,  &c.    Villemsens  &  Co., 
Church  Furniture  ;  Villemsens  &  Co. 
Bronze  Candelabrum.    Villemsens  &  Co., 
Three  Statuettes.    Royal  Iron  Foundry,  Berlin, 
Baptismal  Font.    Royal  Iron  Foundry,  do. 
Ornamental  Columns.  Royal  Iron  Foundry,  do. 
Tazza.    Royal  Iron  Foundry,  do. 
Vinaigrette,  Bracelets  ;  oxydized  silver.    Rudolphi,  I'aris, 
Collins  Gold  Plate.    Ball,  Black,  &  Co.,  New -York, 
Centre  Piece  ;  silver.    Tiffany,  Young  &  Ellis,  do. 
Breakfast  and  Tea  Servioes,  &o. ;  in  silver.   Bailey  &  Co.,  Philadel. 
Salt  Cellar,  Wine  Cooler  ;  silver.    J.  T.  Ames,  Ghicopee,  Mass., 
Castor  ;  silver  gilt.    J.  T.  Ames,  do.  ... 

Castor  ;  silver ;  designed  by  T.  K.  Browne.    J.  T.  Ames,  Chicopee, 
Fancy  Sword.    J.  T.  Ames,  do. 
Repeating  Pistols.    Massachusetts  Arms  Co.,  do. 
Gas  Bracket  ;  bronze.    Cornelius,  Baker  &  Co.,  Philadelphia, 
Bracket  with  Chandelier,  do. 
Chandelier  ;  bronze  gilt.  do. 

Chandelier.    J.  T.  Hall,  England,  

Gold  Heads  for  Canes.    Theodon  &  Requedat,  Paris, 
Bronze  Statuettes.    A.  Leconte,  New  -  York, 
Bronze  Castings.    C.  Papi,  Florence,  . 
Repeating  Rifle.    P.  W.  Porter,  Tennessee, 
Repeating  Pistol.    E.  Whitney,  New  Haven, 
Ornamental  Door.    J.  Aubanel  &  Co.,  Paris, 
Design  for  State  Harness.    J.  Penny,  London, 
Bronze  Street  Lamp.    B.  Di  Bernadis,  Vienna, 
Fire  Grate  ;  cast  iron.    George  Walker,  New  -  York, 


PAGE 

207 
.  207 
.  206 
.  176 
.  208 
.  48 
48, 160 
.  49 
45,  81 
194,  204 
.  45 
.  113 
.  45 
.  162 
.  161 
.  162 
157,  160 
.  163 
.  161 
.  189 
.  175 
.  161 
.  112 
.  163 
192,  193 
.  170 
.  190 
.  103 
.  45 
64,  65,  116 
.  157 
.  171 
Mass.  27 
164  171,  190 
61 
137 
581 
158 
23 
193 
128 
28 
49 
63 
206 
174 
176 
18 


SECTION  III.  GLASS,  PORCELAIN,  AND  EARTHEN  WARE,  &c. 


Vases,  Tazzas,  Tea  Services,  &c. ;  Sevres  Porcelain.  Napoleon  III. 
Vases,  &c.  ;  bronze  and  porcelain.    La  Hoche,  Paris, 
Porcelain  Table  Top.    La  Hoche,  do. 
Porcelain  Clock.    La  Hoche,  do.  ' 

Ornamental  Table.    La  Hoche,  do. 
TnESEUs  Reining  his  Horse  ;  Parian.    Minton  &  Co.,  England, 
Amazon  on  Horseback  ;  Parian,  .... 

The  Vintagers  ;  Parian,  

Pandora,  Psyche,  Prometheus  ;  Parian,  after  Carrier, 
Irish  Peasants  ;  Parian.    Minton  &  Co. 
Parian  Statuettes  ;  style  Louis  XV.    Minton  &  Co. 
Ewer  and  Plateau  ;  Parian.    Minton  &  Co. 
Centre  Piece  ;  porcelain  and  Parian, 
Diana  Jug  and  Flemish  Jug  ;  Parian, .... 

Poroelain  Panels,  

Fruit  DisnES;  porcelain,   

Conservatory  Vase  ;  Majolica  ware, 

Sugar  Disn  ;  porcelain,  

Enoaustio  Tile.    Minton  &  Co.,  England, 
The  Golden  Age  ;  Parian  statuotte.    Copeland,  London, 
Vases,  &c. ;  in  Parian.    Copeland,  do. 
Flower  Stand  ;  Parian.    Copeland,  do. 
Vine  Jug,  &o. ;  Parian.    Copeland,  do. 


198,199 
.  193 
.  194 
.  204 
.  201 
.  139 
.  139 
.  139 
.  140 
.  141 
.  141 
.  128 
.  141 
.  140 
141 
189 
139 
140 
51 
15 
15 
78 
78 


140, 


TABLE 

O  F 

CONTENTS. 

Wine  Jug  ;  Parian.    Copeland,  London, 

PAGE 

16 

Paper  IIanging.    Morant  &  Boyd,  London,       .       .       -       .  . 

PAOE 

.  203 

Vases;  porcelain  and  jewelled.    Copeland,  do. 

.  17 

Stained  Glass  Windows.    Holland,  St.  Johns,  Warwick,  England, 

.  21 

Temptation  of  Eve  ;  statuette.    Copeland,           do.       .  . 

.  192 

82 

Vases  ;  three  Parian.    Copeland,  do. 

.  16 

Mantel  Mirror  ;  E.  Newland  <fe  Co.,  Philadelphia, 

.  205 

Apollo  ;  Parian  statuette.    Copeland,                 do.       .  . 

.  16 

Gothic  Bookcase  ;  carved  in  oak.    Bulkley  &  Herter,  Xew- York, 

.  67 

Plateau  ;  in  Parian.    Copeland,  do. 

.  16 

Buffet:  carved  in  oak.    Bulkley  &  Herter,                   do.      .       .  168,169 

Porcelain  Panels.    Copeland,  do. 

.  17 

Buffet  ;  carved  in  rosewood.    T.  Brooks,  Brooklyn, 

.  39 

Table  Top;  porcelain.    Copeland,  do. 

.  98 

Sideboard  ;  carved  in  black  walnut.    A.  Roux,  Xew-  York, 

.  162 

Porcelain  Vase.   J.  Rose  &  Co.,     England,  .... 

.  94 

191 

Bracket;  in  Parian.   J.  Rose  &  Co.,      do.      .      .  . 

.  94 

Sideboard  ;  carved  in  rosewood.    A.  Eliaers,  Boston, 

.  114 

Tea  Service;  Parian.  J.  Rose  &  Co.,  do  

.  94 

Pier  Table.                                              do.  ... 

.  164 

Porcelain  Vase.   J.  Rose  &  Co.,          do.  .... 

.  130 

Sideboard;  carved  in  oak.    Rochefort  &  Skarren,  Xew  York, 

.  Ill 

Vase,  &o.  ;  group  in  Parian.  Rose  &  Co.,  do  

.  95 

Etagere  ;  rosewood.    T.  Brooks,  Brooklyn,  X.  Y. 

.  19 

Queen's  Vase  ;  porcelain.    Rose  &  Co.,  do  

.  95 

189 

Candelabra  ;  porcelain.    Haviland  &  Co.,     Xew-  York,  . 

.  110 

166 

Covered  Dishes  ;  porcelain.    Haviland  &  Co.,  do. 

.  Ill 

Sofa.    Balny,  Jr.,                                            Paris,  . 

.  192 

Porcelain  Vase.    Haviland  &  Co.,  do. 

.  Ill 

48 

Porcelain  "Wine  Cooler.    Haviland  &  Co.,  do. 

.  129 

52 

Esmeralda  Vase.    Haviland  &  Co.,  do. 

.  129 

Buffet  ;  carved  in  black  walnut.    Le  Prince  &  Co.,  do. 

47 

Vases,  Tea  Services,  Arc.    Royal  Prussian  Porcelain  Manufactory, 

.  123 

125 

Vase.   Royal  Prussian  Porcelain  Manufactory, 

.  172 

62 

Porcelain  Breakfast  Service.    Sampson,  Bridgwood  &  Sons,  England,  22 

.  65 

Porcelain  Fountain.    Ridgway  &  Co., 

do. 

.  22 

.  125 

Porcelain  Tea  Service.    Ridgway  &  Co., 

do. 

.  20 

.  158 

Statuettes,  &c.  ;  in  Parian.    T.  &  R.  Boote, 

do. 

.  95 

166 

Vase  and  Jug  ;  in  Parian.    T.  &  R.  Boote, 

do. 

.  52 

.  172 

Vase,  &c.  ;  group  in  Parian.    Mayer  &  Co., 

do. 

.  52 

200 

The  Reaper;  Parian.    Lindsley,  Powell  &  Co., 

do. 

.  130 

142 

The  Shepherd  Bot  ;  Parian.    Lindsley,  Powell  &  Co., 

do. 

.  130 

96 

Pitchers  ;  colored  Parian.    Lindsley,  Powell  &  Co., 

do. 

.  78 

•  62 

Antique  Vase  ;  terra  cotta.    Ferguson,  Miller  &  Co.,  Scotland, 

.  160 

.  173 

Vases  ;  in  terra  cotta.    H.  Doulton,                 London,  . 

.  20 

Carved  Arm-Chair.    J.  Dessoir,  do.   

.  191 

Water  Cooler;  terracotta.    H.  Doulton,  do. 

.  20 

Centre  Table.    J.  Dessoir,  do.   

.  175 

Conservatory  Vases;  terra  cotta.    H.  Doulton,  do. 

.  20 

Chair  ;  in  papier  mache.    Jennens  <fc  Bettridge,  England, 

.  173 

Terra  Cotta  Pitcher.   J.  W.  Kugler,  Hungary, 

.  173 

Table,  Chair,  Screen,  &c.  ;  papier  mach£.    Jennens  &  Bettridge,  England,  61 

Group  of  Vases.    Hanghwout  &  Daily,  Xew-  York, 

.  129 

82 

Water  Cooler.    United  States  Pottery  Co.,  .... 

.  78 

Pianoforte.    Schomacher  &  Co.,  Philadelphia,         .       .    '  . 

.  174 

Pitchers  ;  group  of  Parian,    United  States  Pottery  Co., 

.  79 

195 

Statuettes  ;  in  terra  cotta.   Boni,    Milan,  .... 

52,  91 

Grand  Pianoforte.    Stodart  &  Son,  London,     .       ,       .       .  . 

.  19 

Bracket  ;  in  terra  cotta.    E.  Saelzer,  Saxe  Weimar, 

.  77 

.  27 

Hanging  Basket.   E.  Saelzer,  do  

.  77 

14 

Conservatory  Vases.    E.  Saelzer,  do  

.  130 

.  174 

Hanging  Baskets.   E.  Saelzer,  do  

.  130 

,  189 

Ruby  Glass  Vase.   J.  Maes,              Paris,  .... 

.  108 

The  Wolf  Hunt  ;  carved  bracket.    G.  Galliena,  Turin,  Sardinia, 

.  144 

Toilet  Service  ;  ruby  glass.   J.  Maes,  do  

.  108 

Panel  ;  carved  in  rosewood.    Rochfort  &  Skarren,  Xew-  York, 

.  144 

Group  of  Vases,  &o.   J.  Maes,  do  

.  108 

Goblet  ;  carved  in  wood.    Bauman,  Switzerland,  .... 

.  125 

Glass  Vases,    J.  Maes,                      do.  .... 

.  165 

.  143 

Bohemian  Glass  Ware.    E.  Stainer,                Xew-  York, 

108, 109 

Orange  Cup,  Spoon,  &c.    W.  G.  Rogers,             London,  . 

.  176 

Vase  and  Decanter;  Bohemian  glass.   E.  Stainer,    do.  . 

.  165 

66 

Cut  and  Pressed  Glass  Ware.    Stouvenel  &  Co.      do.  . 

.  159 

Screens  ;  in  carved  frames.    J.  Fox,  England,  

66 
125 
96,  97 

SECTION  IV.  TEXTILE  FABRICS,  LACE,  &c 

Tankards  and  Cup  ;  carved  in  ivory.    J.  H.  Friedrich,  Darmstadt, 

.  94 

Parasol  Handles  ;  carved  in  ivory.    Sangster,  London, 

96,  97 

The  Wolf  and  the  Lamb  ;  Gobelin  Tapestry.    Napoleon  III., 

.  200 

.  46 

.  95 

Embroideries.    J.  Houldsworth  &  Co.,  England, 

170,  171 

Architectural  Ornaments  ;  terra  cotta.    Tolman,  Hathaway,  and  Stone, 

.  21 

Silk  and  Worsted  Fabrics  ;  three  examples.    Craven  &  Harrop,  Brad- 

205 

ford,  England,   

201 

Brocade  Poplin.    Clabburn  &  Co.,  England,  .... 

49 

Lace  Handkerchief.   John  Higgins  &  Co.,  Xew-  York, 

.  66 

82 

Lace  Collar.    John  Higgins  &  Co.,  do. 

.  67 

204 

Lace  Handkerchief.    S.  G.  Waring, 

.  171 

Descent  from  the  Cross  ;  carved  in  ivory.     Fra  Antonio,  Genoa, 

143 

Axmtnster  Carpet.    Templeton  &  Co.,  Glasgow, 

.  167 

Axmtnstee  Carpet.   Templeton  &  Co.,  do. 

Aubusson  Carpet.   A.  Braquenie,  Paris,          .       -      .  . 

.  196 

SECTION  VI.  MISCELLANEOUS. 

Aubusson  Carpet.    S.  de  Lamornaix,  Aubusson,  France,  . 

.  142 

Bonnet  Materials.    George  Long,  England,  .... 

The  Alhambra  ;  example  of  bookbinding.    W.  Mathews,  Xew  -  York,  . 
Planetarium.    T.  H.  Barlow,  Kentucky,  

23 
104 

SECTION   V.  ARCHITECTURAL    DECORATION.  FURNITURE. 

WOOD, 

Fire  Engine.    W.  Jeffers,  Paw  tucket,  R.  I.,  

47 

f 

Hose  Carriage.    Neptune  Hose  Co.,  Philadelphia,  

193 

AND  IVORY  CARVING. 

Gazelle  Waggon.    G.  W.  Watson,  do.   

Hose  Carriage.    Hope  Co.,  do.   

62 
172 

Pilaster  Panel.    E.  Latilla,  Xew-  York,  

Pleasure  Carriage.    Lawrence  and  Bradley,  Xew  Haven,  .       .       .  . 

92 

Paper  Hanging.    J.  Desfosse,  Paris,  

Hose  Carriage.    Company  No.  8,  Xew  -  York,  

lx 

93 

TABLE     OF  CONTENTS. 


EXHIBITORS    OP    WORKS  ILLUSTRATED 


PAGE. 

Ames,  James  T.,  Chicopee,  Mass.,  63,  157, 104,  101,  100 
Angel,  Joseph,  London,     18,  22,  23,  28,  60,  113,  175 

Antonio,  Carlo,  Oenoa,  143 

AuROWSMiTir,  H.  &  A.,  London,        .       .  .172 
Bailey  &  Co.,  Philadelphia,     .       .       64,  65,  112 
Balny,  Paris,    .       .       .       .       .       .     48,  192 

Ball,  Black  &  Co.,  New- York,      .       .  .170 
Handel,  J.  E.  von,  England,    .       .       .  .124 

Barlow,  T.  H.,  Lexington,  Ky.,  .  .  .164 
Barratta,  Eugenio,  Carrara,  Italy,        .       .  124 

Bassford,  J.,  New  -  York,  195 

Bauman,  A.,  Switzerland,  .  .  _  .  .  125,  189 
Beoii,  Edward,  New-  York,  .  .  .  18,24 
Betti,  Francesco,  Florence,     ....  89 

Bienaime,  L.,  Pome,  110 

Bollo,  Constantino,  Genoa,  .  .  .  .109 
Boni,  Andrea,  Milan,  .  .  .50,  52,  91,  95 
Boote.  T  &  R.,  Burslem,  Staffordshire,  52,  95 

Braquenie,  Alexandre,  Paris, ....  196 
Brooks,  Sidney,  New-York,  .  .  .91,  196 
Brooks,  T.  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  .  .  .  19,  93 
Brown,  H.  K.,  do.  ...  113 

Browne,  J.  F.  &  Co.,  New- York,  .  .  .174 
Bulkley  &  Herter,  New-York,       .      67,  168,  196 

Carlisle,  Earl  of,  82 

Caselli,  L.,  Florence,  92 

City  Hose  Co.,  No.  8,  New-  York,  ...  93 
Clabburn  &  C,  Norwich,  Eng.,        .       .  '    .  159 

Clark,  John  A.,  Dublin,  65 

Copeland,  W.  T.,  London,  .  15,  16,  17,  78,  98,  192 
Cornelius,  Baker  &  Co.,  Philadelphia,  .  157,  158 
Craven  &  Harrop,  Bradford,  England,  .  .  26 
Croff,  Giuseppe,  Milan,  ...  53,  54,  78 

Da  Fieno,  G.,  Genoa,  125 

Dankberg,  F.  W  192 

DeLamornaix,  Sallandrouze  ;  Aubusson,  France,  142 

Desfosse,  Jules,  Paris,  202 

Dessoir,  Julius,  New-  York,  .  .  173,175.191 
Di  Bernardis,  B.,  Vienna,  .  176,  206,  207,  208 
Doulton,  Henry  &  Co.,  London,  ...  20 
Duplan  &  Salles,  Paris,  .  .  157,160,163 
Eliaers,  Auguste,  Boston,  .  .  .  114,  164 
Elkington,  Mason  &  Co.,  Birmingham,  Eng., 

176,  206,  207,  208 
Ferguson,  Miller  &  Co.,  Heathfield,  Scotland,  .  160 


Fox,  J eremiah,  Lynn,  Eng., 
Fraccaroli,  Innocenzo,  Milan, 
Fraikin,  Brussels, 
Franz,  Julius,  Berlin, 
Friedrioii,  J.  H.,  Darmstadt, 
Galli,  Antonio,  Milan,  . 
Galliena,  G.,  Turin,  Sardinia, 
Gamelkoorn,  R.  J.,  Arnheim,  Holland, 
Garabseno,  T.,  Sardinia, 


96,  97 
46 

200 

112 
94 
77 

144 
62 

166 


Garrard  R.  &  S.,  London,  13,  64,  80,  81, 144, 194, 208 


Gasser,  Hans,  Vienna,  .... 

Geiss,  Berlin,  

Graiilon,  P.  A.,  Dieppe,  France, 
Hall,  J.  T.,  England,  .... 
Haugiiwout  &  Daily,  New-York,  . 
Haviland,  Brothers  &  Co.,  New-  York,  . 
Heath,  Thomas,  Philadelphia, 
IIenkei.s,  George  J.,  Philadelphia,  . 
Hews,  George,  Boston, 
Higgins,  John  &  Co.,  New-  York, 
Hilger,  Carl,  Dusseldorf, 
Hobe,  C.  F.,  New-  York,    .  ... 
Holland,  W.  &  Son,  St.  Johns,  Warwick,  . 
Hope  Hose  Co.,  Philadelphia, 
Hoppin,  T.  F.,  Providence,  R.  I., 
Houldsworth,  J.  &  Co.,  Manchester,  Eng. 
Hunt  &  Roskell,  London, 
Hutoiiins,  E.  W.,  New-York,  . 
Jeffers,  William,  Pawtucket,  R.  I., 
Jennens  &  Bettridge,  Birmingham,  Eng., 
Jeriohau,  Prof.,  Copenhagen,  . 
Jerome,  A.  S.,  New  Haven, 
Kehrli,  Brothers,  Switzerland,    ■  . 
Kennedy,  John,  New-  York, 
King,  M.  W.,  New-  York,  .... 
Kiss,  Prof.  A.,  Berlin,  .... 
Kugler,  J.  W.,  Guns,  Hungary, 
La  Hoohe,  Paris, . 
Lange,  J.  G.,  Wurtemberg, 
Lawlor,  S.,  London, . 
Lawrence  &  Bradley,  New  Haven, 
Latilla,  E.,  New-  York,  . 
Lazzerini,  Tommaso,  Carrara,  Italy, 
Le  Chesne,  Auguste,  Paris, 
Leoonte,  Adolph,  New-York,  . 
Lerolle,  Freres,  Paris,   45,  48,  49,  81,  113,  160, 

194,  204 

L'Eveque,  Paris,  164 

Lendsley,  Powell  &  Co.,  Hanley,  Staffordshire,  78, 130 
Long,  George,  Loudwater,  Eng.,  .  .  .  142 
Maes,  Joseph,  Paris,       ....  108,165 

Magi,  Luigi,  Florence,  77 

March  etti,  Nicolo,  Carrara,  .  .  .  .91 
Maroohetti,  the  Baron,  London,  ...  25 
Marshall,  W.  C,  London,  ....  27 
Massachusetts  Arms  Co.,  Cldcopee,  Mass.,       .  52 

Mathews,  New-York,  23 

Mayer,  T.  J.  &  J.,  Dale  Hall,  Staffordshire,  .  52 
Minton,  H.  &  Co.,  Stoke-upon- Trent,  Eng., 

51,  128,  139,  140,  141 


MM 

.  113 
.  160 
96,  97 
.  23 
.  129 
110,  111 
.  201 
.  166 
14 
66,  67 
.  200 
.  122 
21,  28 
.  171 
.  55 
170,  171 
79,  126,  127,  122 
.  189 
.  47 
52,  173 
.  165 
.  62 
.  125 
.  46 
.  142 
.  14 
.  173 
193,  194,  201,  204 
.     114, 143 
48 
92 
15 
165 
163 
128 


Morant  &  Boyd,  London,  . 
Morgan,  Felix,  Quebec,  . 
Motelli,  Gaetano,  Milan, 
Muller,  Carl,  New-  York, 
Nannetti,  G ,  Dublin, 


166,  203 
.  28 
50,  77 
.  124 

110,  175 


Napoleon  III.,  Emperor  of  France,  191,  198, 199,  200 
Neptune  Hose  Co.,  Philadelphia,  .  .  .139 
Newland,  E.  &  Co.,  do.  ...  205 

Paoohiani,  Francesco,  Florence,       .       .       .  200 

Pagani,  Pietro,  Milan,  82 

Papi,  Clemente,  Florence,  23 

Pelliccia,  Ferdinando,  Carrara,  Italy,   .       46,  51 

Penny,  John,  London,  174 

Piatti,  A.,  New-  York,  .  .  .  13,63,175 
Porter,  Col.  P.  W.,  Tennessee,  ....  49 
Powers,  Hiram,  Florence,  .  .  91,  196,  197 
Preston,  John  L.,  Columbus,  S.  C.  .  .  .197 
Putnam,  G.  P.  &  Co.,  New-  York,  .  .  .68 
Ridgway.  John  &  Co.,  Cauldon  Place,  Stafford- 
shire,  20, 22 

Restguet,  Le  Prince  &  Co.,  Paris,  .  .  47,  52 
RocnEFORT  &  Scarren,  New-York,  .  .  Ill,  144 
Rogers,  "W.  G.,  London,  ....  66, 176 
Romanelli,  Pasquale,  Florence,  .       79, 190 

Rose,  John  &  Co.,  Coulbrookdale,  Shropshire, 

94,  95, 130 

Roux,  Alexander,  New  York,  .       .  162,191 

Royal  Iron  Foundry  of  Berlin,  Prussia, 

112,  163,170,  192,  193 
Royal  Prussian  Porcelain  Manufactory,    123,  172 

Rudolphi,  Paris,  1Q0 

Saelzer,  Edward,  Eisenach,  Saxe  Weimar,     77,  130 
Sampson,  Bridgwood  &  Sons,  Longton,  Stafford- 
shire,  22 

Sangster,  W.  &  J.,  London,  ...  96,  97 
Santarelli,  Emilio,  Florence,  ....  144 
Schomacher,  S.  H.  &  Co.,  Philadelphia,  .  .  177 
Sharpe,  Thomas,  London,  .  .  .13,  22,  23 
Society  of  Arts,  London,  .  .  .  .16 
Staffktti,  Del  Medico,  Carrara,  .  .  .  127 
Stainer,  E.,  New- York,  .  .  .  108,109,144 
Stodaht,  "W.  &  Son,  London,  ...  52,  91 
Stouvenel,  J.  &  Co.,  New-York,  .  .  .  159 
Templeton,  James  &  Co.,  Glasgow,  .  .  167,195 
Theodon  &  Requedat,  Paris,    ....  193 

Thorwaldsen,  18,  24 

Tiffany,  Young  &  Ellis,  New-  York,  .  .  54 
Tolman,  Hathaway  &  Stone,  Worcester,  Mass.,  21,  51 
United  States  Pottery  Company,  Burlington, 

Vt.,  78,79 

Vasse,  Enrico,  Florence,  194 

Villemsens  &  Co.,  Paris, .  .  161,  174,  175,  189 
Walker,  George,  New- York,  .  .  .  .18 
Waring,  Susan  G.,  New  Paltz  Landing,  N.  Y,  171 
Watson,  G.  W.,  Philadelphia,  ....  53 
Whitney,  Eli,  New  Haven,  Conn.  ...  63 
Weygand,  Auguste,  Paris,     .      .      45,  161,  162 

Wirtz,  J.  Berne,  158 

Young,  Alexander,  New-  York,  .  .  .  205 
Zora,  G.,  Turin,  Sardinia,       ....  96 


x 


PREFACE. 


SINCERE  desire  to  extend  the  influence  of  pure  and  ornamental  art — to  promote 
a  correct  appreciation  of  what  is  really  beautiful  in  the  arts  of  design— to  awaken 
in  the  people  of  the  United  States  a  quicker  sense  of  the  grace  and  elegance  of 
which  familiar  objects  are  capable — and  to  encourage  our  manufacturers  by- 
placing  before  them  the  productions  of  European  taste  and  skill,  has  influenced 
the  preparation  of  the  Illustrated  Record. 

The  Editors  present  the  volume  to  the  public  with  the  assurance  that  it  will 
be  found  to  be  a  faithful  picture  of  the  New-York  Exhibition — a  permanent  record 
of  what  was  there  displayed  most  useful,  interesting,  and  beautiful.    It  was  not 
an  undertaking  of  the  Government ;  the  national  honor  was  not  pledged  to  gather 
and  select  the  national  resources,  or  invite  the  contributions  of  foreign  states,  and 
secure  for  the  enterprise  the  prestige  of  royal  patronage.    But  still  so  rich  and 
various  a  display  was  never  before  seen  on  this  side  the  Atlantic.    The  labors  of  the  workers  of 
the  world  were  largely,  and  often  magnificently,  represented,  if  not  with  entire  completeness.  A 
selection  of  these  productions,  exhibiting  them  by  engraving  and  description,  forms  a  work  of 
more  than  temporary  importance — a  passing  exhibition  may  be  the  occasion  of  preparing  it,  but 
the  selection  itself  must  derive  its  interest  from  the  arts  it  illustrates.    It  is  a  partial  picture  of  the 
age ;  an  exposition  of  the  comforts  and  luxuries,  the  manners  and  attainments,  which  belong  to 
our  civilization. 

The  illustrations  of  the  Record  were  of  course  limited  to  the  articles  contained  in  the  Exhibi- 
tion. In  selecting  these,  we  have  endeavored  to  inculcate  the  lesson  which  Americans  most  need 
to  learn — the  value  and  effect  of  an  alliance  of  art  with  commercial  industry.  It  was  thought  that  an  important 
benefit  would  be  conferred  upon  our  artisans  and  manufacturers  by  engraving  a  series  of  objects  as  practical  lessons  in 
ornamental  art.    With  this  end  in  view,  we  have  added  to  the  examples  of  excellence  and  beauty  worthy  of  imitation, 


PREFACE. 


such  also  as  present  errors  which  ought  to  be  avoided ;  and  as  far  as  space  permitted,  these  instances  of  faulty  and 
inappropriate  decoration  have  been  pointed  out  in  the  explanatory  text. 

Certain  large  classes  of  objects,  among  which  were  some  of  the  most  important  and  best  represented  in  the  Exhi- 
bition, did  not  admit  of  pictorial  illustrations ;  others  did  not  come  properly  within  the  plan  of  this  work ;  the 
former  have  been  partially  elucidated  in  the  general  essays,  and  both  will  receive  further  attention  in  the  Descriptive 
and  Annotated  Catalogue. 

It  will  be  observed,  and  we  desire  to  call  attention  to  the  fact,  that  many  of  the  essays  in  the  Record  are  employed 
to  explain  the  condition,  methods,  and  instruments  of  the  United  States  Coast  Survey.  It  was  this  part  of  the  New- 
York  Exhibition  which  was  most  honorable  to  our  country,  as  showing  our  advanced  progress  in  several  of  the  most 
abstract  and  difficult  departments  of  human  knowledge.  The  United  States  may  safely  rest  their  claims  to  be  counted 
among  the  foremost  nations  of  the  world  upon  what  has  been  already  done,  and  is  still  doing,  for  science,  for  com- 
merce, and  for  humanity  in  the  Coast  Survey. 

It  is  proper  to  say  a  word  of  the  engravings  themselves,  which  fill  more  than  half  of  this  volume.  The  best  artists 
and  engravers  in  this  country  were  employed  to  execute  them ;  and  the  greater  part  have  been  done  to  our  entire 
satisfaction.  They  faithfully  represent  the  present  condition  and  attainments  of  the  art  of  wood-engraving,  and  they 
will  not  suffer  by  comparison  with  similar  works  executed  abroad.  In  making  such  a  comparison,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  wood-cuts  of  the  Record  have  been  wholly  printed  upon  a  power-press — a  method  much  less  adapted  to 
show  their  full  beauty  than  the  hand-press,  but  necessary  to  produce  large  editions  with  rapidity. 

Our  endeavors  to  make  this  volume  a  beautiful  and  acceptable  record  of  the  New-York  Exhibition  have  been 
always  aided  by  the  generous  and  unhesitating  liberality  of  the  publishers,  and  to  them  is  justly  due,  and  will  be 
awarded,  whatever  credit  may  attach  to  its  publication. 


NEW-YOEK  CRYSTAL  PALACE.— INTERIOR  No.  III. — THE  INAUGURATION. 


ARCHITECTURAL  PLANS. 

AMONG  the  unaccepted  designs  for  the  New- York  Industrial  Palace,  there  were 
some  whose  architectural  merit  and  beauty  claim  a  pla.ce  in  its  history.  Upon 
this  page  we  present  the  elevation,  and  upon  the  fourth  page,  the  interior  view  of  the 
building  designed  by  Sir  Joseph  Paxtox.  The  original  drawings  were  generously 
presented  to  the  New- York  Association  by  their  distinguished  Author,  and  the 
following  brief  description  has  been  derived  from  them;  and  the  accompanying 
memoranda : 

The  ground  plan  of  the  building  is  a  parallelogram ;  its  total  area,  including 
the  terrace,  24  feet  wide,  which  surrounds  it,  is  about  three  acres.  Its  extreme 
length  is  653  feet,  and 
•its  width  199  feet. 
Each  end  has  a  porch- 
ed  entrance  for  the 
convenience  of  tak- 
ing up  and  setting 
down  visitors.  The 
terrace,  to  be  used 
as  a  promenade,  or 
.for  the  display  of 
bronze  and  iron  sta- 
tues and  massive  min- 
eral specimens,  is  cov- 
ered with  asphalt,  and 
Hanked  with  a  wall  of 
stone,  which,  at  in- 
tervals of  26  feet, 
supports  pedestals  for 
lamps.  The  interior 
is  divided  into  three 
compartments  —  the 
central  nave  600  feet 
long,  and  79  broad, 
find  two  side  ave- 


the  arch  of  the  nave.  The  construction  of  the  flooring,  and  the  drainage  of  the 
rain  and  interior  vapors,  are  the  same  as  was  employed  in  its  English  predecessor. 
Great  skill  has  been  shown  in  constructing  the  galleries,  sHis  not  to  interfere  with 
the  long  perspective  of  the  interior.  The  galleries  were  not  designed  for  the  dis- 
play of  goods,  but  for  promenades.  The  available  space  in  the  building  will  be  ob- 
served to  be  only  about  one-fourth  of  that  in  the  plan  adopted  by  the  Association, 
and  quite  too  small  for  the  requirements  of  the  Exhibition. 

Should  a  building  hereafter  be  erected  upon  this  plan,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
its  effect  would  be  extremely  fine.  Its  noble  nave,  lofty  and  free,  with  its  crowning 
clerestory,  designed  to  accommodate  the  ventilators,  combines  with  the  general 
simplicity  of  the  plan  to  give  a  degree  of  grandeur  to  the  whole  structure,  which 

is  conducive  to  the 
best  architectural  ef- 
fect. It  is  true,  that 
a  great  sacrifice  of 
space  is  made  in  the 
exclusion  of  goods 
from  the  galleries , 
but,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  the  same 
amount  of  space,  if 
required,  may  not  be 
more  economically 
gained  by  an  exten- 
sion of  the  plan.  At 
Hyde  Park  the  gal- 
lery space  was  gained 
by  a  serious  loss  of 
beauty  in  the  general 
proportions  of  the 
building.  As  else- 
where remarked,  the 
square    form,  and 


%*  The  reader  will  observe  that  the  illustrated  pages  of  the  Record  are 
arranged  to  be  read  by  themselves,  and  Mow  one  another  independently  of  the 
letter-press,  or  pages  of  plain  text.  Thus,  the  first,  fourth,  fifth,  and  eighth 
pages  are  illustrated,  and  the  remainder  are  text.  The  convenience  of  printing 
the  engravings  in  a  separate  "form  "  renders  this  arrangement  necessary  in  the 
present  number. 


9 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


'    DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  BUILDING. 

RESERVOIR  SQUARE,  on  which  the  building  of  the  New- York  Industrial  Ex- 
hibition is  erected,  lies  in  the  north-western  part  of  the  city,  four  miles  distant 
from  the  Battery,  and  three  and  a  quarter  from  the  City  Hull,  between  the  Sixth 
Avenue  and  the  Croton  Distributing  Reservoir,  whose  massive  walls  overshadow  its 
eastern  side.  The  distance  from  the  Reservoir  to  the  Avenue  is  445  feet ;  and  the 
width  from  Fortieth  street  in  the  south  to  Forty-second  street,  its  northern  limit,  is 
455  feet.  This  space  is  almost  entirely  occupied  by  the  building.  The  shape  of  the 
ground  is  unfavorable  for  architectural  purposes;  and,  aside  from  the  facilities  of 
access  afforded  by  the  avenue  railways  and  numerous  lines  of  stages,  there  is 
nothing  to  recommend  this  locality,  while  the  solid  and  imposing  strength  of  the 
Reservoir  presents  an  inharmonious  contrast  with  that  light  and  graceful  structure 
which  wo  now  proceed  to  describe. 

The  appearance  of  the  building  and  the  materials  employed  to  construct  it, 
bLow  its  relationship  to  the  Crystal  Palace  of  Hyde  Park.  Like  that,  its  frame- 
work is  a  system  of  iron  columns  and  girders  ;  glass  excludes  the  dull  and  heavy 
walls  of  masonry  used  in  ordinary  structures,  and,  with  the  slender  proportions  of 
the  framing,  gives  the  edifice  the  light  and  airy  appearance  so  well  expressed  by 
its  popular  name.  The  resemblance  which  we  have  spoken  of  is  only  a  general 
one ;  the  ground  plan,  the  relative  proportion  of  each  of  the  materials  employed, 
and  the  details  of  construction,  are  quite  different  from  its  English  prototype,  and 
give  it  an  architectural  effect  and  character  of  its  own 

The  general  idea  of  the  New- York  building  is  a  Greek  cross,  surmounted  by  a 
dome  at  the  intersection.  The  length  of  each  diameter  of  the  cross  is  365  feet 
and  5  inches,  and  the  width  of  the  arms  is  149  feet  and  5  inches.  This  does  not 
include  the  three  entrance  halls,  projecting  towards  Sixth  Avenue,  Fortieth,  and 
Forty-second  streets,  -s#lich  are  each  27  feet  wide  and  approached  by  flights  of 
steps.  By  referring  to  the  annexed  engravings,  it  will  be  seen  that,  although  the 
edifice  is  cruciform,  the  outline  of  the  ground  plan  is  nearly  a  regular  octagon, 
whose  diameter  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  arms  of  the  cross.  This  form  lias  been 
given  to  it  by  ingeniously  filling  up  the  triangular  intervals  between  the  arms  of 
the  cross  with  a  lean-to  of  only  one  story,  or  twenty-four  feet  in  height.  The 
adoption  of  this  device  was  necessary  in  order  to  provide  space  for  the  exhibition, 
it  being  impossible  within  the  narrow  limits  of  the  6ite  to  enlarge  the  dimensions 
of  the  cross  in  the  usual 
way ;  and,  while  this 
substantial  advantage  is 
gained,  it  is  productive 
of  only  a  slight  archi- 
tectural defect  in  dimin- 
ishing the  perspective 
of  the  interior. 

The  arrangement  of 
the  columns  is  repre- 
sented upon  the  dia- 
grams.   It  will  be  seen 
that  they  divide  the  in- 
terior into  two  princi- 
pal avenues  or  naves, 
each  41  feet   and  5 
inches  wide,  with  aisles, 
54    feet    wide,  upon 
either  side.    The  inter- 
section of  the  naves 
leaves  in  the  centre  a 
free  octagonal  space, 
100  feet  in  diameter. 
The  columns  still  fur- 
ther subdivide  tho  aisles 
and  the  triangular  in- 
tervals  between  the 
arms  of  tho  cross,  into 
square  and  half-square 
compartments,  of  27 
feet  on  the  side.  Tho 
aisles  arc  covered  with 
galleries  of  their  own 
width,   and   they  aro 
united  to  each  other  by 
broad    connections  at 
the  extremities  of  tho 
naves.    Tho  naves  aro 
carried  above  the  roofs 
of  the  galleries  to  admit 
light,  and  aro  spanned 


r- 
ui 

hi 

a. 

H 
irt 


SCALE   01  fca_ 


by  16  semicircular  arches  of  cast-iron,  which  are  40  feet  and  9  inches  in  diameter, 
and  placed  at  a  distance  of  27  feet  from  each  other. 

The  number  of  cast-iron  columns  upon  the  ground  floor  is  190 :  they  aro  21 
feet  high  above  the  floor,  octagonul,  und  8  inches  in  diameter ;  the  thickness  of 
the  sides  varies  from  half  an  inch  to  ono  inch.  The  cast-iron  girders,  3  feet  wide, 
of  which  tho  longest  are  26  feet  and  4  inches,  and  those  of  wrought-iron,  40  feet 
and  9  inches  long,  are  indicated  by  the  dotted  lines.  The  first  tier  of  girders 
sustain  tho  floors  of  tho  galleries,  and  brace  the  structure  in  all  directions.  They 
are  united  to  the  columns  by  connecting  pieces  3  feet  4  inches  high,  which  have 
the  same  octagonal  slmpe  as  the  columns,  and  flanges  and  lugs  to  be  bolted 
together.  The  number  of  girders  in  the  first  tier  is  252.  The  second  story  con- 
tains 148  columns,  17  feet  and  7  inches  high,  which  rest  on  those  below  them, 
and  have  the  same  shape.  They  receive  a  second  series  of  girders  numbering  160, 
which  support  the  roofs  of  the  aisles.  They  also  receive  the  semicircular  arches 
of  the  naves.  All  the  roofs  ar^supported  upon  arches  or  upon  girders  by  means 
of  ■  rought-iron  inverted  trusses  which  receive  the  angle  iron  purlins  of  the  rafters  ; 
the  latter  are  made  of  strips  of  wood  inclosed  between  iron  sides.  The  roofs  are 
uniformly  constructed  of  boards  matched  together,  and  covered  with  tin. 

The  dome,  noble  and  beautiful  in  its  proportions,  is  the  chief  architectural 
feature  of  the  building.  Its  diameter  is  100  feet,  arid  its  height  to  the  springing 
line  is  nearly  70  feet,  and  to  the  crown  of  the  arch  123  feet.  It  is  the  largest,"  as 
well  as  almost  the  only  dome  hitherto  erected  in  the  United  States.  To  our 
untravelled  countrymen  it  may  be  an  instructive  example  of  the  beauty  and  fine' 
architectural  effect  of  which  this  structure  is  capable,  although  its  dimensions  are 
trivial  when  compared  with  the  majestic  domes  of  the  Pantheon  or  St.  Peter's,  or 
those  other  wojiderful  erections  of  classic  and  mediaeval  times  when  architecture 
was  a  passion,  and  united  with  religious  enthusiasm  to  produce  the  triumphs  of  the 
Art.  We  have  given  upon  a  separate  page,  as  a  frontispiece  of  this  number,  an 
architectural  section  of  the  dome,  which  will  give  our  readers  a-bctter  idea  of  its 
structure  than  any  description  can  do.  A  perspective  view  of  the  interior, 
which  was  promised  by  the  architects  for  this  number,  .will  be  published  as 
soon  as  it  is  ready.  The  dome  is  supported  by  24  columns,  which  rise  beyond 
the  second  story,  and  to  a  height  of  62  feet  above  the  principal  floor.  The  sys- 
tem of  wrought-iron  trusses  which  connects  them  together  at  the  top,  and  is  sup- 
ported by  them,  forms  two  concentric  polygons,  each  of  16  sides.    They  receive  a 

.  cast-iron  bed-plate  to 
which  the  cast-iron 
shoes  for  the  ribs  of  the 
dome  are  bolted.  Tho 
latter  are  32  in  number. 
They^are  constructed  of 
two  curves  of  double 
angle-iron,  securely 
connected  together  by 
trellis-work.  The  re- 
quisite steadiness  is  so- 
cured  by  tie-rods,  which 
brace  them  both  ver- 
tically and  horizon- 
tally. At  the  top,  the 
ribs  are  bolted  to  a 
horizontal  ring  of 
wrought  and  cast-iron, 
which  has  a  diameter 
of  20  feet  in  tie  clear, 
and  is  surmounted  by 
the  lantern.  As  in  tho 
other  roofs  of  the  build- 
ing, the  dome  is  cased 
with  matched  deal  and 
tin  sheathing.  Light 
is  communicated  to  the 
interior  through  the 
lantern,  and  also  in  part 
from  the  sides,  which 
are  pierced  for  32  orna- 
mental windows.  These 
are  glazed  with  stained 
glass,  representing  the 
arms  of  the  Union  and 
of  its  several  States, 
and  form  no  inconsid- 
erable part  of  the  in- 
terior decoration. 

Tho  external  walls  of 
the  building  are  con- 


U 

h 


o 


vi  AVENUE 


30O 

=1  r 


OKOUMD  PLAN. 


THE    N  E  W  -  Y  O  R  K 


EXHIBITION 


ILLUSTRATED. 


?! 


PLAN  OF  THE  GALLERY. 


strncted  of  cast-iron  fram- 
ing and  panel  work,  into 
which  are  inserted  the 
sashes  of  the  windows  and 
the  louvres  for  ventilation. 
The  glass  is  one-eighth  of  ah 
inch  thick,  and  was  manu- 
factured at  the  Jackson 
Glass  Works,  N.  Y.,  and 
afterwards  enamelled  by 
Cooper  &  Belcher,  of  Camp- 
town,  N.  J.  The  enamel, 
with  which  the  whole  of  it 
is  covered,  is  laid  upon  the 
glass  with  a  brush,  and 
after  drying,  is  subjected 
to  the  intense  heat  of 
a  kiln,  by  which  the  coat- 
ing is  vitrified,  ,anc}  ren- 
dered as  durable  as  the 
glass  itself.  It  produces  an 
effect  similar  to  that  of 
ground  glass,  being  trans- 
lucent, but  not  transparent. 
The  sun's  rays,  diffused  by 
passing  through  it,  yield  an 
agreeable  light,  and  are  de-» 
prived  of  that  intensity  of  . 
heat  and  glare  which  be- 
longs to  them  in  this  cli- 
mate. In  the  absence  of  a 
similar  precaution  in  the 
Crystal  Palace  of  Hyde  Park, 
whose  roofs  as  well  as 
walls  were  inclosed  with 
transparent  glass,  it  was  • 
found  necessary  to  cover  the  interior  of  the  building  with  canvas,  to  produce  the 
required  shade. 

At  each  angle  of  the  building  there  is  an  octagonal  tower,  8  feet  in  diameter 
and  76  feet  in  height.  These  contain  winding  stairways  which  lead  to  the  galleries 
and  roofs,  and  are  intended  for  the  use  of  the  officers  and  employees  of  the  Asso- 
ciation. Twelve  broad  staircases,  one  oh  either  side  of  each  entrance,  and  four  be- 
neath the  dome,  connect  the  principal  "floor  with  the  gallery.  The  latter  are  cir- ' 
cular  in  part,  and  consist  of  two  flights  of  steps  with  two  landing  places.  The 
fl6oring  of  the  galleries  is  made  of  closely  matched  planks',  while  those  forming 
the  floor  of  the  first  story  are  separated  by  narrow  intervals,  in  the  same  man- 
ner and  for  the  same  purpose  as  in  the  London  building.  Over  each  of  the  prin- 
cipal entrance  halls,  the  galleries  open  upon  balconies,  which  afford  ample  space  for 
placing  flowers,  vases,  and  statues  for  decoratien.  Above  the  balconies,  the 
ends  of  the  naves  are  adorned  with  large  fan-lights,  corresponding  to  the  semi- 
circular arches  within.  On  each  'side  of  the  entrances  there  are  ticket  offices, 
and  adjacent  to  them  rooms  are  provided  for  the  officers  of  the  Association, 
telegraph,  &c. 

The  rapid  and  unexpected  increase  of  the  applications  of  exhibitors  induced 
the  Association  to  erect  a  large  addition  to  the  building  already  described.  It 
consists  of  two  parts,  of  one  and  two  stories  respectively,  and  occupies  the  entire 
space  between  the  main  building  and  the  reservoir.  Its  length  is  451  feet  and  5 
inches,  and  its  extreme  width  is  75  feet.  It  is  designed  for  the  reception  of 
machinery  in  motion,  the  cabinets  of  mining  and  mineralogy,  and  the  refreshment 
rooms  with  their  necessary  offices.  The  second  story,  which  is  nearly  450  feet 
long,  21  feet  wide,  and  extends  the  whole  length,  is  entirely  devoted  to  the 
exhibition  of  pictures  and  statuary.  It  is  lighted  from  a  sky-light*  419  feet 
long,  and  8  feet  and  6  inches  wide. 

The  Decorations  of  the  building  have  been  intrusted  to  Henry  Greenougii, 
Esq.,  of  Cambridge,  brother  of  the  lamented  sculptor  of  the  same  name.  Mr.  Green- 
ough  has  made  Art  his  study,  and  in  its  pursuit  has  resided  long  in  Italy.  As  he 
has  promised  to  unfold  the  general  principles  and  detail  of  his  present  work  in  an 
essay  to  be  published  in  an  early  number  of  the  Record,  we  will  state  at  present 
only  a  few  facts. 

The  leading  idea  in  the  plan  of  decoration  has  been  to  bring  out  the  beautiful 
construction  of  the  building — to  decorate  construction  rather  than  to  construct 
decoration.  To  do  this,  and  at  the  same  time  to  preserve  a  general  harmony  of 
effect,  has  given  Mr.  Greenongh  ample  opportunity  to  display  his  knowledge  of 
the  resources  of  his  art.    The  result  is  surprisingly  beautiful. 

The  decoration  was  commenced  only  on  the  27th  of  April,  but  as  soon  as  the 
progress  of  the  construction  would  permit;    The  colors  employed  on  the  exterior 


and  interior  are  mixed  in 
oil,  the  base  being  the  white 
lead  manufactured  by  the 
Belleville  Co.  The  exterior 
presents  the  appearance  of 
a  building  constructed  of  a 
light-colored  bronze,  of 
which,  all  features  purely 
ornamental  are  of  gold. 

The  interior  has  a  pre- 
vailing tone  of  buff,  or  rich 
cream-color,  which  is  given 
to  all  the  cast-iron  con- 
structive work.  This  color 
is  relieved  by  a  moderate 
•and  judicious  use  of  the 
three  positive  colors,  red, 
blue,  and  yellow,  in  their 
several  tints  of  vermilion, 
garnet,  sky  blue  and  orange, 
(certain  parts  of  the  orna- 
mental work  being  gilt)  to 
accord  with  the  .  arrange- 
ment of  colors  employed  in 
the  decoration  of  the  ceil- 
ings. The  only  exceptions 
to  the  use  of  oil  colors  are 
the  ceiling  of  the  American 
lean-to  and  the  dome  ;  these 
decorations  are  executed  in 
tempera  on  canvas. 

The  effect  of  the  interior 
of  the  dome,  (designed  by 
Sr.  Monte  Lilla,)  is  particu- 
larly splendid.  The  rays 
from  a  golden  sun,  at  the 

centre,  descend  between  the  latticed  ribs,  and  arabesques  of  white  and  blue, 
relieved  by  silver  stars,  surround  the  openings.  We  propose  hereafter  to 
furnish  a  page  in  chromo-lithography,  which  will  illustrate  in  a  much  more 
satisfactory  manner  than  can  be  accomplished  by  description,  the  arrangement 
and  effect  of  the  interior  decoration.  But,  as  already  stated,  a  more  extended 
account  of  the  decorations,  explaining  the  principles  on  which  they  are  designed 
and  the  objects  in  view,  will  appear  in  the  report  of  the  Superintendent  of 
Decoration. 

The  building  is  supplied  with  gas  and  water  in  every  part/  The  gas  is  de- 
signed forthe  use  of  the  police  in  protecting  the  property  by  night,  but  is  so 
arranged,  that  should  it  be  deemed  expedient  to  open  the  building  in  the  evenings 
there  will  be  ample  light.  The  water  is  accessible  at  numerous  points,  with 
conveniences  for  drinking,  and  also  for  the  attachment  of  hose  in  case  of  fire. 

The  whole  quantity  of  iron  employed  in  the  construction  amounts  to  1,800 
tons;  of  which  300  tons  are  wrought,  and  1,500  tons  oast-iron.  The  quantity  of 
glass  is  15,000  panes,  or  55,000  square  feet.  The  quantity  of  wood  used  amounts 
to  750,000  feet,  board  measure. 

To  complete  our  explanation  of  the  construction  of  the  building,  we  recapitulate 
its  principal  dimensions,  and  annex  a  few  references  to  the  diagrams : — 


PRINCIPAL  DIMENSIONS. 

FT. 

From  principal  Floor  to  Gallery  Floor,  .  ...  24 
"  to  top  of  2d  tier  of  Girder?,  .  .  44 
"    to  top  of  3d  "  "...  59 

"  "    to  ridge  of  Nave      .       .       .  .67 

"  "    to  top  of  Bed-plate,  .       .       .  .69 

"  "     to  top  of  upper  ring  of  Dome,  .  .123 

6th  Avenue  curb  stone  to  top  of  Lantern,     .       .       .  151 
to  top  of  Towers,      ...  76 
Area  of  first  floor,       ....    157,195  sq.  feet. 
"  2d     "  ....      92,496  "  " 


41 
10 

4 
11 

6 


Total  area, 


249,692  or  5|  acres. 


REFERENCES  TO  GROUND  PLAN. 


1.  Entrance  Halls. 

2.  Ticket  Offices. 

3.  Rooms  for  Officers. 

4.  Staircases  to  Galleries. 

5.  Principal  Avenues  or  Naves. 

REFERENCES  TO 

1.  Connections  of  the  Galleries. 

'A.  Galleries. 

3.  Picture  Gallery. 


6.  Central  Space  beneath  the  Dome. 

7.  Machinery  in  Motion. 

8.  Mineralogical  Department. 

9.  Refreshment  Rooms. 
10.  Flower  Garden,  &c. 

GALLERY  PLAN. 

4.  Open  Nave. 

5.  Balcony  over  Porches. 

6.  Roofs. 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


IKranp.1.] 

phitheatre.  The  plan  was  recommended 
by  its  economy,  .the  parties  offering  to  put 
up  tlie  whole  building  for  the  sum  of  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  tower  in 
the  centre  was  to  serve  the  double  pur- 
pose of  a  support  for  the  hanging  roof 
of  sheet-iron  suspended  from  it  by  rods  in 
a  catenary  curve,  and  also  as  a  grand  ob- 
servatory. For  this  end  it  wa9  to  be  300 
feet  high,  and  provided  with  a  mechanism 
for  hojsting  observers  to  the  top  by  steam 
power.  The  height  of  the  exterior  wall 
is  about  60  feet.  The  proprietors,  who 
are  largely  concerned  in  the  erection  of 
cast-iron  houses,  expressed  a  conviction 
that  tl^e  whole  structure  would  be  worth 
very  considerably  more  when  dissected, 
for  ordinary  purposes,  than  in  its  present 
form,  owing  to  the  economy  obtained  in 
reproducing  so  large  a  number  of  identical 
parts  from  the  same  patterns. 

The  late  A.  J.  Downing  also  presented 
for  the  consideration  of  the  Association 
a  plan  of  great  novelty  and  bold  concep- 
tion. We  are  indebted  to  the  kindness 
of  Cai.veht  Vadx,  Esq.,  of  Newburgh, 
for  drawings  of  the  exterior  and  interior 
views,  and  the  ground  plan  of  this  design, 
and  with  them  we  conclude  the  fourth 
page  of  this  number. 

The  ground  plan  is  a  circle  intended 
to  occupy  the  whole  of  Reservoir  Square, 
and  to  be  surmounted  by  a  colossal 
dome,  built  of  wood  and  canvas,  with  supporting  col- 
umns of  iron.  The  dome  was  proposed  to  be  construct- 
ed with  thin  curved  ribs,  placed  at  short  distances, 
secured  with  angle  iron,  and  notched  into  circular 
ties  made  of  several  firmly  bolted  thicknesses  of  two- 
inch  plank.  The  stability  of  the  dome  depends  upon 
the  ties,  which  do  away  with  the  difficulty  of  thrust, 
and  leave  the  weight  only  of  the  materials  to'be  sup- 
ported. The  combined  strength  and  lightness  of  this 
mode  of  construction  is  seen  in  an  eggshell,  whose 
double  dome  of  lime  is  furnished  with  an  uninterrupted 
tie  in  the  interior  by  its  tough  membranous  lining. 


The  canvas,  lining  the  interior,  is  designed  to  be  of 
pearl-gray  color  at  the  springing  line,  gradually  deep- 
ening into  am  intense  blue  at  the  crown.  The  ex- 
ternal ribs,  being  covered  with  tin  and  glass  tiles, 
would  produce  an  effect  similar  to  that  of  silvering. 
As  this  dome  would  require  no  centering,  and  but  little 
scaffolding,  its  construction  would  be  both  easy  and 
economical.  The  general  aim  has  been  to  make  the 
interior  light  and  airy,  and  to  give  unity  of  character 
to  the  design,  "by  avoiding  smallness  of  parts,  and  ar- 
ranging in  such  a  manner  that  it  may  be  conspicuous 
at  a  distance  and  adapted  to  its  position. 


f  I.KVATION 


(iKOUND  PLAV. 


r 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


5 


ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  OBJECTS  EXHIBITED. 


The  Swinet  Cup — a  prize  offered  by  the  Society  of  Arts  for  the  best  treatise  on 
Jurisprudence  published  before  the  close  of  the  present  year,  and  open  to  the  compe- 


tition of  all  nations,  is  exhibited  by  the  Council  of  the  Society.  The  goblet  is  silver, 
about  fourteen  inches  high,  and  was  executed  by  Messrs.  Garrard  from  the  designs 
of  D.  Maelise,  R.  A 


An  Epergne,  electro-plated  on  German  silver,  is  exhibited  by  T.  Sharpe,  London. 
The  design  is  a  beautiful  female  supporting  a  cornucopia,  from  which  rises  a  basket  of 
intertwining  vines  with  grapes. 


The  Sleeping  Child  is  a  statue  in  marble,  designed,  executed  and  exhibited  by  Signor  Piattl,  of  New- York,  the  Superintendent  of  the  Sculpture  department  of  the  Exhibition. 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS 


INTRODUCTORY 


HISTORICAL. 


BRIEF  statement,  of  the  origin 
and  progress  of  the  Association  for 
the  Exhibition  of  the  Industry  of 
All  Nations,  will  be  an  appropriate 
introduction  to  the  first  part  of 
the  Eecoed.    It  is  perhaps  need- 
less to  say  that  the  triumphant 
success  of  the  London  Exhibition 
)  gave  birth  and  force  to  the  idea 
of  this.    Simultaneously,  almost, 
it  was  proposed  to  repeat  the 
grand  experiment  in  Dublin,  in 
France,  and  in  the  United  States. 
Although  America  achieved  some 
of  the  most  signal  and  perma- 
nently valuable    results  which 
were  brought  to  the  knowledge 
of  mankind  by  the  Exhibition  in 
Ilyde  Park  ;  still  there  was  probably  no  American  who 
saw  our  contributions  in  London,  and  did  not  feel  some 
regret  that  they  were  not  a  more  just  and  equally  sus- 
tained exponent  of  our  resources,  industry,  and  arts. 

But  stronger  and  more  controlling  than  this  senti- 
ment, was  the  desire  excited  to  afford  the  masses  in 
America  an  opportunity  to  see  the  grand  total  of  the 
world's  industry,  and  the  manifold  productions  and  ap- 
plications of  the  arts  of  design  brought  in  one  com- 
parative view.  It  was  seen  that  while  no  nfotive  but  a 
proper  regard  for  our  own  position  in  the  great  family 
of  nations  could  have  induced  us,  as  a  people,  to  send 
our  industrial  products  to  Europe,  where  we  find  a 
market  only  for  our  great  staple  raw  materials,  that 
the  fact  of  our  becoming  more  and  more  every  day  the 
great  purchasers  of  the  products  of  European  skill  and  labor,  expended,  perhaps, 
upon  our  own  products,  would  induce  all  the  manufacturing  states  of  the  old  world 
to  embrace^  eagerly,  an  opportunity  to  expose  their  products  in  the  New- York 
Crystal  Palace. 

This  conviction,  strengthened  by  the  sentiments  before  alluded  to,  led  a  few 
public-spirited  citizens  of  the  United  States,  early  in  1852,  to  contemplate  the 
organization  of  the  effort  whose  results  we  see.  It  was  not  designed  or 
desired  to  reproduce  the  London  Exhibition,  which,  from  the  very  nature  of  the 
case,  must  ever  remain  unexampled  ;  but  to  draw  forth  such  a  representation  of 
the  world's  industry  and  resources  as  would  enable  us  to  measure  the  strength 
and  value  of  our  own,  while  it  indicated  new  aims  for  our  enterprise  and  skill. 

There  is  no  humiliation  in  the  acknowledgment,  that  America  has  more  to 
gain  from  such  a  comparison  than  any  other  nation  in  Christendom — and  we 
believe  she  is  also  more  willing  to  avail  herself  of  the  suggestions  it  offers. 

It  was  obvious  in  the  outset,  that  numerous  difficulties  would  embarrass  the 
successful  organization  of  an  exhibition  of  industry  in  the  United  States,  which 
should  at  once  be  universal  in  its  scope,  and  devoid  of  the  imputation  of  local  or 
sectional  influence.  These  difficulties  were  inherent  in  the  nature  of  our  political 
institutions. 

In  England,  the  suggestion  of  Prince  Albert  to  the  Society  of  Arts  was 
received  with  enthusiasm,  and  enlisted  not  only  the  cordial  support  of  the 
Queen,  but  every  member  of  a  numerous  and  wealthy  aristocracy  joined  his  hand 
in  setting  forward  the  royal  project.  The  government,  however  backward 
and  lukewarm  they  might  have  been  at  first,  could  not  resist  an  influence  with 
which,  as  men,  they  were  identified.  Then  the  almost  supreme  power  of  the 
London  journals  came  in  to  swell  and  direct  the  popular  sentiment,  and  to  make 
every  Englishman  fj;el  that  he  had  an  immediate  personal  stake  in  the  success — the 
triumphant  and  overwhelming  success — of  an  enterprise  to  which  the  honor  of  his 
sovereign,  and  of  the  nation,  stood  pledged  before  all  mankind. 

Under  the  stimulus  of  such  powerful  motives,  the  universal  intellect  of  the 
United  Kingdom  organized  itself  in  Councils,  Committees,  and  Juries.  Men  whose 
names  are  identified  with  the  halls  of  science,  of  literature,  and  of  art,  left  their 
tripods,  and  were  found  heading  the  various  corps  of  hard-working  volunteers  in 
considering  or  perfecting  the  several  details  of  the  colossal  scheme.  The  rooms  of 
the  Royal,  the  Geological,  the  Geographical,  the  Ethnological,  and  the  Statistical 
Societies,  of  the  Institutions  of  Civil  Engineers  and  Architects,  of  the  Museum  of 
Economic  Geology — and  even  of  the  Staid  and  conservative  Universities,  were  for 


a  time  deserted  to  furnish  men  and  mind  for  the  emergency.  In  looking  over  the 
long  catalogue  of  councilmen  and  chairmen,  of  commissioners,  associates,  and  jury- 
men, whose  names  are  connected  with  the  administration  of  the  London  Exhibi- 
tion, it  is  astonishing  to  see  what  an  array  of  talent  and  learning  was  gathered  to 
secure  its  success.  •  Nor  was  this  peculiar  to  Great  Britain  ;  but  from  all  parts  of 
the  world,  we  find  in  its  published  lists  men  whose  names  are  the  guaranty  of 
eminent  success,  not  only  in  their  own  departments,  but  in  whatever  they  may 
undertake.    Such  was  the  animus  of  the  London  Exhibition. 

Compared  with  this  royal  espousal,  and  enornftus  personal  influence  brought 
to  sustain  and  carry  forward  the  exhibition  of  1851,  the  simple  machinery  and 
resources  of  an  association  of  private  gentlemen,  however  enterfirising,  might  seem 
utterly  inadequate.  Let  the  results  decide.  Such  an  association  was  formed,  and 
stands  committed  to  the  successful  prosecution  of  the  plan. "  All  the  world 
has  been  invited  to  co-operate  in  sustaining  the  effort,  and  the  appeal  has  met  a  re- 
sponse as  cordial,  as  the  design  is  liberal  and  catholic. 

New- York  was  selected  as  the  locality  of  the  Exhibition,  because  of  its  great 
advantages  as  a  commercial  centre,  and  as  the  chief  entrepot  of  European  goods. 
Had  it  been  proposed  to  limit  the  Exhibition  to  the  products  of  American  indus- 
try, some  place  more  central,  as  "Washington,  Philadelphia,  or  Cincinnati,  might 
have  been  justly  preferred,  but  in  view  of  the  foreign  department  of  the  scheme, 
New- York  seemed  the  only  place  at  all  suited  for  the  purpose. 

The  municipal  authorities  of  the  city  of  New-York,  on  the  3d  of  January,  1852, 
moved  by  an  enlightened  regard  for  the  prosperity  of  the  city,  and  the  interests 
of  its  inhabitants,  granted  a  lease  for  five  years  of  Reservoir  Square,  for  this  pur- 
pose, upon  two  conditions :  one,  that  the  building  should  be  constructed  of  glass 
and  iron,  and  the  other,  that  no  single  entrance  fee  should  exceed  fifty  cents. 

The  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New- York,  upon  application,  granted,  on  the 
11th  of  March,  1852,  the  charter  under  which  the  Association  for  tiie  Exhibition 
of  the  Industry  of  all  Nations  has  been  organized  and  carried  forward.  The 
Act  clothed  the  Directors"  with  all  the  powers  needed  to  carry  out  its  plans,  and 
the  Legislature  have  since  that  time  extended  its  privileges,  so  that  it  can  issue 
stock  to  the  amount  of  half  a  million  dollars,  in  place  of  the  original  limitation  to 
three  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  Board  of  Directors  first  met  on  the  17th  of 
March,  1852,  and  organized  by  the  election  of  Tiieodore  Sedgwick,  Esq.,  President, 
and  William  "WnETTEN,  Esq.,  as  Secretary.  No  time  was  lost  in  publishing  and  cir- 
culating a  general  statement  of  the  object^  of  the  enterprise.  A  call  for  subscrip- 
tions to  the  stock  was  met  in  due  time  by  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  persons  and 
firms  coming  forward  to  take  up  the  first  two  hundred  thousand  dollars.  This  wide 
distribution  of  the  interest  in  a  large  number  of  hands  completely  avoided  the 
obnoxious  charge,  that  the  undertaking  was  a  speculation  designed  for  the  benefit 
of  a  few. 

The  countenance  and  co-operation  of  the  general  government  was  sought  with 
a  view  to  the  introduction  of  foreign  goods  into  the  Exhibition  duty  free.  And 
official  assurances  were  given  by  Mr.  Maxwell,  the  Collector. of  the  port  of  New- 
York,  that  the  building  of  the  Association  would  be  made  a  bonded  warehouse, 
thus  entitling  the  Association  to  receive  the  goods  free  of  duty,  while  on  exhibi- 
tion. 

The  influence  of  the  general  government  was  also  most  cheerfully  extended  on 
behalf  of  the  Association  through  the  kind  offices  of  Mr.  Webster,  then  Secre- 
tary of  State,  who  wrote  to  the  representatives  of  the  United  States  at  the  princi- 
pal courts  of  Europe,  stating  to  them  his  sense  of  the  importance  of  the  enterprise, 
and  the  numerous  reasons  why  in  his  view  they  should  give  to  the  Association  all 
the  aid  and  support  in  their  power. 

The  Ministers  of  foreign  powers,  resident  in  the  United  States,  had  previously; 
responded,  in  terms  of  entire  cordiality,  to  the  general  circular  of  the  Association, 
which  had  been  addressed  to  them,  stating  its  plans,  and  soliciting  the  co-opera- 
tion of  European  nations.  They  all  expressed  thejr  convictions  that  their  re- 
spective governments  would  look  with  favor  upon  the  proposed  exposition,  and 
unite  in  sending  to  New- York  their  most  valued  and  characteristic  objects  of 
industry. 

The  leading  foreign  newspapers  also  manifested  a  most  friendly  desire  to  sustain 
the  success  of  the  undertaking,  and  the  records  of  the  office  contain  the  most 
abundant  evidence  of  their  zealous  support ;  while  the  daily  journals  in  foreign  lan- 
guages in  the  United  States  were  prominent  in  lending  their  services  to  the  cause. 

The  organization  of  the  foreign  relations  of  the  Association  was  effected  by  the 
appointment  of  Mr.  Charles  Busoiiek,  of  London,  as  its  general  agent,  through 
whom  all  details  have  been  arranged.  This  delicate  and  important  trust,  involving 
the  greatest  responsibility,  required  talents,  knowledge,  and  experience,  both  of  a 
commercial  and  of  a  diplomatic  character.  The  Association  was  truly  fortunate 
in  finding  these  qualities  combined  in  one  person.  Mr.  Busoiiek  was  the  Austrian 
Commissioner  at  the  London  Exhibition  of  1851,  and  through  him  the  co-opera- 
tion of  the  European  manufacturers  has  been  secured  to  an  unexpected  extent. 

At  a  later  period  in  the  history  of  the  enterprise,  it  was  thought  to  be  expedient 
to  send  out  to  Europe  Col.  G.  W.  HuonES,  of  Maryland,  to  co-operate  with  Mr. 
Busoiiek  in  carrying  out  the  plans  of  the  Association.  This  gentleman  added  to 
the  weight  of  his  official  commission  the  influence  of  personal  qualities,  fitting  him, 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


I 


in  a  remarkable  manner,  for  his  delicate  task  of  soliciting  or  directing  the  counte- 
nance and  support  of  European  governments  in  favor  of  the  objects  of  the  New- 
York  Exhibition.  The  result  of  his  labors  has  been  the  securing  from  various 
governments  important  contributions,  which  would  otherwise  have  remained  un- 
known in  the  United  States. 

By  midsummer  of  last  year,  the  corps  of  engineers  and  architects  was  organized 
by  the  appointment  of  Mr.  C.  E.  Detmold  as  superintending  architect  and  engi- 
neeer;  Mr.  Horatio  Allen,  consulting  engineer;  and  Mr.  Edmund  IIukey,  con- 
sulting Architect.  To  these  gentlemen  the  construction  of  the  building  was  con- 
fided, and  by  them  it  has  been  brought  to  its  completion. 

TIIE  BUILDING. 

Meanwhile  proper  steps  were  taken  to  secure  a  plan  for  the  building.  The 
peculiar  form  of  the  ground,  and  the  comparative  want  of  experience,  on  the  part 
of  manufacturers,  engineers,  and  architects  in  our  country,  in  the  matter  of  iron 
construction,  were  among  the  prominent  difficulties  preseilting  themselves  at  the 
outset,  and  offering  serious  obstacles  to  the  movements  of  the  Association.  "We 
mention,  with  peculiar  pleasure,  that  Sir  Joseph  Paxton,  of  Chatsworth,  at  an 
early  stage  of  the  proceedings,  (December,  1851,)  in  the  most  liberal  manner,  sent 
out  for  the  free  use  of  the  Association  a  plan  for  a  building  of  great  beauty  and  simpli- 
city, accompanied  by  specifications.  These  designs  we  have  the  satisfaction  of  pre- 
senting in  this  number  of  the  Record,  as  copied  from  the  original  drawings  in 
possession  of  the  Association.  Unfortunately,  the  shape  of  the  ground  selected 
for  the  New- York  Exhibition,  rendered  it  impossible  to  consider  the  propriety  of  • 
adopting  them. 

We  take  a  melancholy  pleasure  in  referring  also  to  the  plan  proposed  by  that 
gi'fteu1  and  most  lamented  man,  Andrew  J.  Downing,  whose  memory  is  sweetly 
embalmed  in  die  affections  of  his  countrymen.  This  plan  contemplated  the  large 
use  of  wood  and  canvas  as  a  part  of  the  materials  of  construction,  while  by  the 
terms  of  the  charter  of  the  Association,  iron  and  glass  were  to  be  principally  em- 
ployed. Mr.  Downing's  design  was  therefore  precluded,  but  we  are  enabled  by 
the  kindness  of  Mr.  Yaux,  the  business  partner  of  Mr.  Downing,  to  present  an 
engraving  of  it  to  our  readers,  accompanied  by  such  explanations  as  will  render  it 
intelligible. 

Several  other  plans,  characterized  by  boldness,  originality,  or  ingenuity,  or  all 
combined,  were  presented  for  consideration,  and  some  of  them,  with  the  consent 
of  their  authors,  we  may  hereafter  present  in  our  columns.  One  of  thejn,  that  of 
Messrs.  Bogardus  &  Hoppin,  is  given  upon  page  fifth. 

After  much  consideration,  and  a  careful  comparison  of  the  various  advantages 
of  the  several  plans  brought  under  the  notice  of  the  board,  it  was  finally  deci- 
ded, on  the  26th  of  August,  to  adopt  the  plan  proposed  by  Messrs.  Carstensex 
&  Gildemeistee,  and  immediate  steps  were  taken  to  secure  its  construction. 

The  details  of  the  construction  of  the  building  will  be  found  in  connection  with 
the  designs  which  are  given  elsewhere  in  the  Record.  The  original  plan  has  been 
increased  nearly  one-fourth  by  the  addition  of  a  new  building  for  the  machinery, 
making  the  total  area  for  exhibition  over  two  hundred  thousand  square  feet,  or  about 
five  acres,  and  still  the  complaint  most  likely  to  be  made  is,  that  the  building  is 
too  small.  The  mechanical  execution  of  the  iron  work  reflects  the  highest  credit 
on  the  skill  of  the  mechanics  who  have  wrought  it,  and  proves  the  feasibility  of 
applying  this  mode  of  architecture  in  the  United  States  for  ordinary  purposes. 
The  use  of  cast-iron  had,  however,  already  become  common  here  for  warehouses, 
to  a  degree  exceeding  even  its  jjse  elsewhere,  until  a  very  recent  period ;  and  its 
superiority  in  such  constructions  over  stone  in  the  very  important  requisites  of 
lightness  and  strength,  will  insure  its  continued  employment  wherever  these  qual- 
ities are  to  be  combined. 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT  'OF  THE  EXHIBITION. 

The  sole  charge  of  the  interior  of  the  building,  as  respects  its  administration, 
its  division,  arrangements,  classifications  and  police,  has  been  confided,  with 
the  sanction  of  the  Government,  to  two  officers  of  the  United  States  Navy,  Cap- 
tains S.  F.  D.upont  and  Charles  H.  Davis. 

These  gentlemen,  who  have  so  much  distinguished  themselves  in  the  special 
services  in  which  they  have  been  employed,  have  organized  their  department  by 
the  following  appointments : 

J.  M.  Batchelder,  Secretary  of  the  Superintendents. 

Samtel  Webber,  Arrangement  of  Space  and  Classification. 

Prof.  B.  Silliman,  Jr.,  Mineralogy  and  Chemistry. 

B.  P.  Johnson,  Agricultural  Implements. 

Edward  Vincent,  Textile  Fabrics. 

Felix  Piatti,  Sculpture. 

Two-thirds  of  the  space  has  been  devoted  to  foreign  nations,  and  the  remain- 
ing third  to  the  United  States.  This  third  occupies  the  northeastern  quarter  of 
the  building.  The  machinery  is  placed  in  an  arcade  running  the  whole  length  of 
the  eastern  side  of  the  plot  of  ground,  and  the  power  required  for  the  machinery 


in  motion,  is  derived  from  two  steam-engines,  whose  boilers  are  placed  in  a 
separate  house  upon  the  opposite  side  of  Forty-Second  street.  The  steam  is 
brought  under  ground  in  iron  pipes  insulated  by  non-conducting  materials.  The 
details  of  the  subdivision  will  be  observed  upon  the  plans  which  accompany  the 
present  number. 

The  classification  adopted  is  substantially  the  same  as  that  used  in  London, 
with  a  few  changes  and  subdivisions  suggested  by  experience  ;  and  the  rules  re- 
garding the  interior  police  of  the  building,  the  conduct  of  exhibitors,  and  the 
custody  of  valuables,  are  also,  for  the  most  part,  the  Same  as  in  London. 

The  terms  upon  which  contributions  are  admitted  into  the  building  are  ex- 
tremely liberal.  The  freight  is  paid  by  the  Association  both  to  and  from  Ameri- 
ca, upon  all  articles  from  foreign  countries,  whenever  the  objects  exhibited  are  to. 
be  returned.  The  American  contributors  pay  their  own  freights;  but  the  Associ- 
ation covers  the  whole  contents  of  the  building  by  an  insurance  against  fire,  free 
of  charge  to  all. 

EAW  MATERIAL. 

The  Mineralogical  and  Mining  department  occupies  a  distinct  apartment  in 
the  new  portion  of  the  building,  and  owing  to  the  backwardness  of  this  part  of 
the  construction,  can  hardly  be  opened  as  soon-  as  the  main  building.  The  plan 
adopted  by  the  Director  of  this  department,  has  been  to  obtain  as  far  as  possible, 
in  the  time  allowed,  representations  from  every  important  mine  and.locality 
within  reach  ;  and  to  arrange  the  specimens  with  reference  to  their  geographical 
distribution,  so  that  the  collection  will,  in  some  degree,  at  least,  be  a  mineralo- 
gical map  of  the  country.  To  make  such  a  collection  in  all  respects  complete, 
would,  of  course,  demand  the  labor  of  many  years.  But  to  insure  a  somewhat 
competent  representation  of  the  resources  of  the  United  States,  in  this  department 
of  her  raw  materials,  special  agents  have  been  sent  to  visit  the  various  mines, 
furnaces,  smelting  works,  and  mineral  localities,  with  instructions  to  obtain  cha- 
racteristic specimens  from  the  most  authentic  sources.  The  resources  of  private 
cabinets  have  also  been  taxed,  and  in  most  cases  a  truly  liberal  spirit  has  shown 
itself  on  the  part  of  proprietors  in  loaning  their  most  valuable  minerals  for  the 
use  of  the  Exhibition.  The  same  may  be  said  of  some  of  our  public  collections. 
From  foreign  countries  also  there  have  been  received  valuable  collections  in  this 
department. 

From  many  parts  of  the  United  States  and  of  Canada,  raw  materials  will  form 
the  chief  bulk  of  the  contributions.    These  will  consist,  of  course,  of  those  ob-- 
jects  for  which  each  State,  territory,  or  province,  is  most  noted ;  of  the  metals, 
valuable  minerals,  building  materials,  agricultural  -productions,  and  all  the  various 
products  of  the  sea,  the  rivers,  and  the  forest. 

MECHANICAL  DEPARTMENT. 

Contrivances  for  the  saving  of  human  labor,  will  be  found  to  afford  much 
material  for  attentive  study  in  the  Mechanical  Department  of  the  Exhibition. 
In  America,  the  high  price  of  human  labor  has  led  to  the  invention  of  much 
curious  and  useful  machinery,  to  perform  the  duties  assigned  in  the  old  world  to 
manual  skill.  Such  machines  are  common  enough,  certainly,  in  all  manufacturing 
countries ;  but  we  believe  it  is  safe  to  say,  that  they  are  more  numerous  and  of 
more  various  application  in  the  United  States  than  elsewhere.  Numerous  exam- 
ples in  support  of  the  truth  of  this  observation  will  be  found  in  the  Exhibition. 
A  single  instance  that  occurs  on  the  instant  will  illustrate  it.  There  are  not  less 
than  ten  machines  exhibited  for  sewing  cloth  or  leather,  and  all  by  different 
American  inventors  (how  many  European  ones  there  may  be,  we  have  not  ascer- 
tained). Some  of  them  employ  a  double  and  some  a  single  thread,  and  some  are 
fitted  for  special  uses.  But  all  are  designed  to  substitute  the  strength  and  preci- 
sion of  machinery  for  the  delicate  fingers  of  a  woman.  One  of  these  machines, 
it  is  said,  may  easily  perform  the  work  of  ten  women  in  a  day.  It  is  worth 
while  to  remember,  that  in  the  London  Exhibition  there  were  only  three  ma- 
chines of  this  sort,  one  from  France  (Senegal's,  for  sewing  sacks) ;  one  from 
America  (Blodgett's) ;  and  one  from  England  (Judkins's).  We  shall  take  an  early 
opportunity  of  discussing^this  subject  more  at  length. 

Nor  will  we  omit  to  mention  in  this  connection,  the  Cotton  Gin  of  Whitney, 
certainly  not  a  new  invention,  but  not  the  less  a  corner-stone  of  American  industry. 
This  peculiarly  national  invention  is  represented  in  the  present  Exhibition  by  the 
original  model,  constructed  in  1793  by  the  hands  of  its  inventor,  and  exhibited  by 
his  son,  Eli  Whitney,  Esq.,  of  New  Haven.  No  one  can  fail  to  view,  without 
deep  interest,  this  simple  apparatus,  when  he  reflects  that  the  greatest  branch  of 
American  agricultural  industry  dates  its  origin  from  the  day  when  the  planter 
received  this  result  of  Whitney's  genius ;  that  no  important  addition  or  improve- 
ment was  ever  made  upon  it ;  and  that  without  its  efficient  aid  in  cleaning  the 
cotton  from  its  seeds,  this  new  colossal  product  might  have  still  remained  un- 
developed. 

Startling  to  Guttemberg  and  Faust  would  be  the  almost  incredible  rapidity  of 
the  Power  Presses  of  our  day.  Although  we  have  little  to  say  of  improve- 
ment in  paper  and  typography,  over  the  Mazarin  Bible,  it  is  certainly  true, 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


We  commence  the  illustrations  of  this  page  with 
three  subjects  in  Parian  from  the  prolific  manufactory  of 
Alderman  Copeland.  The  central  engraving  represents 
the  Return  from  the  Vintage.  This  group,  twenty-six 
inches  in  height,  and  consisting  of  seven  figures,  is 
modelled  from  the  original,  late  in  the  possession  of  the 


We  adorn  our  page  with  a  new  engraving  of  the  famous 
group  by  Kiss,  of  Berlin — an  Amazon  on  horseback  attack- 
ed by  a  tiger.  The  artist  represents  the  critical  moment 
of  the  action  with  wonderful  skill  and  effect.  The  tiger  has 
already  fastened  his  fangs  and  claws  deep  in  the  neck  of 
the  struggling  horse,  while  the  rider,  throwing  herself 
back  out  of  her  ordinary  seat,  poises  her  spear  to  transfix 
the  monster  with  a  single  and  decisive  blow.  The  counte- 
nance of  the  Amazon  expresses  terror  at  the  sudden  attack 
of  the  tiger,  but  her 
courage  does  not  fal- 
ter, and  the  specta- 
tor feels,  that  of  the 
two  barbarians,  she 
is  the  mightiest  and 
most  vengeful.  - 

The  group  exhibit- 
ed, a  copy  of  the  co- 
lossal bronze  origi- 
nal which  adorns  the 
entrance  of  the  Royal 
Museum  at  Berlin, 
was  cast  in  zinc  at 
the  foundry  of  Oeiss, 
and  illustrates  the 
perfection  of  casting 
and  chiselling,  as  well 
»s  the  durability 
and  cheapness,  which 
combine  to  recom- 
mend this  metal  to 
the  statuary.  Cop- 
per is  deposited  on 
the  zinc  by  galvanic 
.action,  and  thus  pro- 
duces a  bronze  sur- 
face as  beautiful  and 
durable  as  the  cost- 
lier metal.  It  is  haz- 
ardous to  criticise 
a  work  which  has 
received  the  almost 
universal  applause  of 
the  world.  In  sculp- 
ture the  unity  of  the 
action,  where  there  is 
action,  the  individ- 
uality and  simpli- 
city of  the  senti- 
incilt,  where  there  is 


Earl  of  Litchfield.  The  festivity,  which  it  commemo- 
rates, is  too  well  known  to  require  description  here.  The 


figure  on  the  right,  called  a  Sitting  Cupid,  bupports  a 
basket  for  the  reception  of  flowers.  The  corresponding 
one  on  the  left  is  also  a  Cupid,  and  represents  him  in  an- 
other, and  possibly  less  harmless  character,  silent,  and 
meditating  one  of  those  stratagems  which  are  ascribed  to 
the  agency  of  the  Boy -god. 


repose,  ought  ever  to  be  the  thing  foremost  in  the  work. 
Such  was  the  invariable  habit  of  the  great  masters  of 
Grecian  art,  from  whose  authority  there  is  no  appeal. 
The  moment  the  action  becomes  complicated  by  the  in- 
troduction, of  any  element  distracting  the  mind  from 
what  should  be  single  and  undivided — the  unity — that 
instant  the  sculptor  passes  into  the  province  of  the 
painter,  and  should  give  his  work  the  form  of  abas-relief. 
Here  we  see  distinctly  two  actions,  the  Amazon  and  the 

tiger;  the  tiger  and 
the  horse.  It  is  no- 
bly done ;  the  anat- 
omy, the  sentiment, 
all  express  entirely 
the  artist's  design, 
and  within  the  limits 
of  pure  expression, 
  •  free  from  extrava- 
gance. But  the  de- 
sign is  pictorial,  not 
sculpturesque.  The 
Laocoon  is  a  noble 
instance  of  unity  con- 
sistent with  the  use 
of  agonizing  action 
of  several  figures, 
>  and  the  savage  rep- 
tiles. The  just  retri- 
bution of  a  flagrant 
crime — the  wrath  of 
the  gods  symbolized 
in  the  coils  of  the 
snakes — the  despair 
and  torture  of  the 
damned,  in  the  dis- 
torted features  and 
writhing  bodies  of  the 
victims,  all  conspire 
to  produce  unity  out 
of  complexity,  and 
teach  the  high  moral 
lesson  of  the  supre- 
macy of  virtue,  and 
sure  punishment  of 
.  transgression.  Com- 
pared with  this  stand- 
ard of  Art,  it  is  plain 
that  Kiss's  Amazon, 
fine  as  it  is,  holds  a 
secondary  place. 


THE    NEW   YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


To  those  who  know  the  power  of  Art  to  educate  and 
refine  the  taste,  the  social  life  and  character  of  a  peo- 
ple, it  has  always  been  a  cause  of  regret  that  the  ap- 
preciation and 
enjoyment  of 
it  should,  hare 
been  confined 
to  the  few 
whose  wealth 
was  equal  to 
the  purchase  of 
its  costly  pro- 
ductions. For 
this  reason, 
works  of  high 
Art  have  been 
almost  un- 
known in  this 
country  and  in 
Europe,  they 
have  been  the 
exclusive  pos- 
session of  na- 
tional galleries, 
or  of  an  heredi- 
tary aristocra- 
cy. Neither  the 
middle  nor  thf 
lower  classes 
have  been 
brought  under 
its  influences. 
It  has  never 
developed  a- 
mong  the  ma- 
jority of  any 
people  that 
love  of  beauty 
and  symmetry, 
native  in  every 
one  however 
rude  and  un- 
refined ;  it  has 
not  brought 
the  passions  of 
mankind  under 
its  control,  and 
therefore  has 
not  yet  accom- 
plished its  des- 
tined purpose 
as  a  means  of 
civilization.  We  believe  that  Art  is  capable  of 
accomplishing  all  that  is  claimed  for  it  by  .its  most 
enthusiastic  friends,  when  our  life  in  all  its  pursuits 
is  brought  into  daily  contact  with  its  productions : 
when  its  works  are  no  longer  a  monopoly,  but  an 
every-day  possession,  within  the  reach  of  the  mecha- 
nic and  tradesman  as  well  as  the  opulent  and  noble. 
If  the  beautiful  were  daily  placed  before  us,  surely 


We  would  not  confine  the  influence  of  Art  to 
works  purely  ornamental,  to  statues,  vases,  and  pic- 
tures.   The  rudest  household  furniture,  the  ordinary 


service  for  the  table,  and  the  houses  themselves 
may  possess  artistic  and  symmetrical  beauty,  and  be 
none  the  less  usefuL    We  are  not  convinced  by  the 


homely  reasoning  attributed  to  Socrates,  that  what- 
ever is  useful  is  therefore  beautiful.    Such  sentiments, 


our  social  life  could  not  fail  to  be  ameliorated  and  ex- 
alted by  its  silent  eloquence. 


u 


W'1  : 


which  have  too  widely  prevailed,  in  our  own  country, 
especially  we  are  glad  to  believe,  are  yielding  to  a 

[Top.  12.] 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


10 


that  in  the  facility  of  every  mechanical  detail,  the  rapidity  and  precision  with 
which  hooks  of  high  average  quality  are  now  manufactured  (we  use  the  word 
literally),  is  such  as  to  form  an  era  in  the  world's  progress. .  "We  will  not  anticipate 
what  we  have  to  say  elsewhere,  and  in  more  detail,  upon  the  interesting  subject 
of  typography,  but  will  simply  add  that  this  Record  is  printed  upon  two  power 
presses,  in  the  building  of  the  Exhibition,  moved  by  steam  power  supplied  from 
the  engines,,  whose  duty  it  is  to  drive  the  machinery  of  the  mechanical  de- 
partment. Thousands  of  visitors  will  thus  be  able  to  see,  probably  for  the  first 
time,  the  rapid  movements  of  these  seemingly  intelligent  operatives,  whose  one  sole 
requirement  appears  to  be  an  insatiable  appetite  for  fair  white  paper.  The  illus- 
trations are  printed  upon  the  press  of  Isaac  Adams  &  Co.,  of  Boston,  while  the 
letterpress  side  is  worked  upon  that  of  A.  B.  Taylor  &  Co.,  New-York. 

FINE  ARTS. 

It  is  encouraging  to  mark  the  great  progress  made  in  the  United  States  during 
the  last  ten  years,  in  the  general  appreciation  and  patronage  of  the  various  Arts 
of  Design,  including  Architecture.  The  public  mind  is  now  somewhat  impressed 
with  the  importance  of  these  subjects,  and  is  moving  in  the  .right  direction.  It 
needs,  however,  constant  watchfulness  to  guard  against  the  errors  growing  out  of  a 
tendency  to  admire  what  is  overwrought  or  extravagant,  and  to  substitute  splendor 
of  color,  and  costliness  of  material,  for  beauty  of  form,  and  elegance  of  design.  The 
false  taste  of  Venice  grew  out  of  immense  and  suddenly  acquired  wealth,  seeking 
to  ally  itself  to  Art.  The  parallel  thus  suggested  may  teach  us  in  America  a 
useful  lesson.  Convinced  as  we  are,  that  sound  taste,  based  on  and  growing  out 
of  good  models,  is  more  wanted  in  our  country,  and  needs  more  encouragement 
and  developing,  than  mere  constructive  or  mechanical  talent,  we  shall  take  pains, 
without  neglecting  the  last  named  departments,  to  seize  every  legitimate 
opportunity  to  enforce  and  illustrate,  what,  in  our  humble  judgment,  are 
sound  principles  and  honest  examples  in  the  various  Arts  of  Design.  The  masses 
in  the  United  States  have  no  knowledge  of  Art,  for  the  plain  reason  that  they 
have  had  no  opportunity  to  instruct  themselves  in  it.  Here  no  noble  memorials 
of  the  past  chronicle  the  great  deeds  of  an  illustrious  ancestry.  No  well-bestowed 
*  wealth  has  founded  long  galleries  of  sculpture,  painting  and  antiquities,  and  opened 
their  doors  to  the  gratuitous  access  of  all  visitors.  That  obvious  and  imperative 
duty  of  all  enlightened  Governments,  to  provide  such  places  for  the  use  of  their 
citizens,  remains  thus  far  unfulfilled,  almost,  we  fear,  unthought  of  by  our  General 
Government,  and  by  the  Administrations  of  the  several  States.  The  only  historical 
memorials  which  we  do  possess,  in  our  National  Capitol,  are  so  few,  and,  in 
general,  so  poorly  disposed  for  inspection,  that  they  form  no  exception  to  the  gen- 
eral truth  of  our  remark.  Even  the  poor  tribute  of  a  Gallery  and  Museum  com- 
memorative of  the  various  Aboriginal  Tribes  of  North  America,  is  withheld,  and 
the  treasures  of  ethnological  research  and  pictorial  skill  gained  by  the  adventurous 
exposure  and  individual  expense  of  a  Catlin,  are  suffered  to  seek  an  asylum  in  a 
foreign  land.  Meanwhile  the  rapidly  moving  sunlight  of  a  progressive  civilization 
is  passing  over  the  western  forests,  and  sweeping  from  the  face  of  the  globe  the  last 
traces  of  a  noble  and  deeply  injured  race,  whose  chief  crime  was  to  possess  a  land 
which  the  Anglo-Saxon  coveted. 

One  of  the.  results  which  we  hope  may  follow  this  Industrial  Exhibition,  is  the 
growth  in  the  popular  mind  in  the  United  States,  of  a  determination  to  establish 
museums  of  Antiquities  and  the  Fine  Arts,  of  Natural  History,  the  Mechanical  arts, 
and  manufactures,  in  all  our  principal  towns,  and  to  sustain  them  out  of  the  public 
purse,  in  the  most  liberal  manner,  free  at  all  times  to  the  access  of  all  classes.  "We 
are  sure,  that  as  soon  as  the  public  mind  is  properly  informed  upon  these  subjects, 
that  it  will  act  with  rigorous  decision.  A  most  important  means  of  imparting  such 
information,  consists  in  the  assembling  together  of  objects  of  interest  in  all  depart- 
ments of  human  industry,  skill  and  taste,  and  inviting  all  classes  to  come  and 
inspect  them.  Such  a  movement  is  now,  for  the  first  time,  made  in  the  United 
Slates,  and  wo  sincerely  trust  that  it  will  prove  to  be  one  productive  of  permanent 
results.  So  far  as  our  humble  endeavors  can  avail,  we  are  determined  it  shall  be  so. 
As  the  choicest  fruits  and  the  loveliest  flowers  spring  only  where  culture  has  elal  i<  i- 
rated,  and  toil  prepared  a  genial  bed,  and  sown  the  choicest  seed ;  so  can  we  hope  for 
the  truest  and  finest  developments  of  human  skill,  only  as  the  results  of  refined 
culture  and  the  attentive  study  of  the  best  models. 

The  Oil  Paintings  form  a  novel  feature  in  the  American  Exhibition.  These 
were  excluded  from  the  London  building,  chiefly,  it  is  presumed,  because  of  the 
difficulty  of  finding  room  for  their  display.  The  same  objection  might  seem  to 
apply  with  more  force  to  the  present  case;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  we 
have  comparatively  few  living  Artists,  and  almost  no  Galleries,  as  sources  of  supply ; 
while  the  number  of  works  in  this  branch  of  Art,  likely  to  cross  the  Atlantic,  will 
be  comparatively  small. 

We  have  from  the  artists  of  Dusseldorf,  from  sixty  to  seventy  original  easel 
pictures,  mostly  painted  for  the  present  occasion.  From  France  there  are  seventy, 
and  from  Switzerland  ten  Artists  exhibiting  paintings.  The  cartoons  of  a  few,  which 


we  have  seen,  are  of  high  merit,  and  the  names  of  the  Artists  are  themselves  a 
guarantee  for  their  works.  We  intend  to  present  one  or  more  specimens  of  the 
style  of  each  school  in  these  pages — selecting  those  subjects,  which,  while  they 
are  of  general  interest,  will,  at  the  same  time,  admit  of  heing  rendered  an  wood 
with  justice  to  the  artist.  The  other  modern  schools  of  European  Art  are  also  to 
be  well  represented,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  lists,  and  the  American  painters 
will  not  be  wanting. 

Prikoe  Albert  is  a  contributor  of  several  oil  paintings,  while  from  Sardinia 
and'  Tuscany,  works  of  Art  in  all  departments  form  the  chief  part  of  the  objects 
contributed  to  the  New-York  Exhibition.  But  as  these  objects,  at  this  present 
writing,  have  not  been  taken  from  their  cases,  we  shall  advert  to  them 'more  de- 
finitely upon  another  occasion. 

The  art  of  Glass  Painting  has  been  much  revived  of  late  years,  and  numerous 
exhibitions  of  works  of  this  description  are  on  the  lists  of  the  Association. 
This  beautiful  art  loses  more  than  any  other  branch  of  pictorial  representation, 
by  absence  of  color,  and  we  shall,  therefore,  be  necessarily  very  restricted  in 
our  efforts  to  reproduce  its  designs.  This,  however,"  will  be  no  reason  why  we 
shall  not  gladly  take  occasion  to  present  its  principles  and  practice  in  a  proper 
essay.  The  public  taste  has  become,  of  late,  much  directed  toward  fhe  chromatic 
decoration  of  interiors,  both  in  churches  and  in  private  houses.  It  is,  however, 
the  fashion  for  a  certain  class  of  writers  to  decry  all  attempts  of  modern  Art  to 
reproduce  the  stained  glass  of  the  Middle  Ages.  It  is  sometimes  even  asserted,  that 
we  no  longer  possess  the  secret  of  the  rich  colors,  whose  unfaded  glories  still  dye 
the  light-beams  from  the  oriel  of  old  churches  of  the  time  of  the  eleventh  century. 
Such  assertions  can  be  founded  only  in  ignorance  of  the  resources  of  modern 
chemistry,  whose  list  of  metallic  oxyds,  capable  of  producing  every  tint  of  the 
spectrum,  was  never  so  complete  nor  so  fully  under  the  control  of  the  operator,  as 
at  the  present  moment.  If  we  have  failed  to  equal  the  compositions  of  Ai.breciit 
Durer,  it  is  because  modern  artists  of  equal  talent  have  thought  it  not  worth  their 
while  to  engage  in  an  occupation,  which,  by*  some  strange  perversion,  has  been 
considered  as  in  some  degree  unworthy  of  the  attention  of  men  of  genius. 

"We  cannot  expect  to  see  the  finest  results  of  Art,  in  all  departments,  until  artists 
abandon  the  silly  notion,  now  quite  too  prevalent,  that  easel  pictures  in  oil,  and 
works  in  marble,  are  the  only  objects  worthy  of  their  attention,  and  that  all  other 
forms  of  Art  are,  in  their  nature,  somewhat  menial.  Benvenuto  Celi.ixi  was 
not  ashamed  of  the  craft  of  a  goldsmith,  although  he  dared  to  treat  the  Pope 
and  his  Cardinals  with  deserving  contempt.  Eaphael  and  Micfiael  Angelo,  and 
a  hundred  other  glorious  names,  had  no  'fear  of  being  mistaken  for  plasterers, 
because  they  lay  whole  days  upon  their  backs  working  up  their  immortal  designs 
in  fresco,  upon  the  very  mortar  which  their  own  artistic  hands  had  spread.  Nor 
did  any  of  the  great  masters  of  ancient  Art  disdain  to  design  a  carpet,  the  fashion 
of  a  water  jug,  or  to  apply  their  talent  in  any 'direction  in  which  it  was  wanted. 

It  will  be  a  happy  day  for  modern  Art,  when  the  genius  of  the  artist,  and  the 
skill  of  the  artisan,  are  again,  as  of  yore,  found  in  one  person.  Such  a  union  would 
be  most  congenial  with  the  practical  spirit  of  the  present  time,  which  demands  of 
every  class  useful  results  applicable  to  the  wants  of  our  present  life.  It  is  not  easy 
to  say  why  an  artist  is  not  as  worthily  employed  in  decorating  a  set  of  porcelain, 
with  original  designs,  in  producing  his  effects  in  colored  glass,  or  in  modelling  the 
forms  of  beauty  for  whatever  purpose,  as  when  he  is  starving  behind  a  canvas,  on 
which,  in  his  devotion  to  so-called  high  Art,  he  has  reproduced  the  allegorical  or 
mythological  notions  of  a  gone-by  age  and  of  a  heathen  religion. 


GIFTS  OF  SCIENCE  TO  THE  ARTS. 

AN  EXHIBITION  which  shows  the  present  state  of  the  "World's  Arts  and  Manu- 
factures, furnishes  also  a  convenient  stand-point  to  review  their  history  and  the 
means  and  elements  of  their  progress.  In»  doing  this,  wo  have  no  expectation  of 
adding  to  the  knowledge  of  an  expert  in  any  art  or  science.  Our  humbler,  and 
more  widely  useful  task,  will  be  to  recall  popular  attention  to  the  origin  of  capital 
inventions,  especially  those  which  are  the  gifts  of  science  to  the  arts.  Many  of 
these  are  so  interwoven  with  our  daily  life,  that  they  have  ceased  to  excite  either 
our  curiosity  or  admiration ;  and  we  find  it  difficult  to  conceive  the  woield's  con- 
dition before  these  familiar  discoveries,  creating  new  arts  or  new  developments  of 
old  ones,  changed  the  place  and  aspect  of  the  world's  industry. 

It  has  becomo  too  much  the  custom,  in  quarters  where  a  better  spirit  might  be 
looked  for,  to  ridicule  the  claims  of  science,  and  deny  the  obligations  it  has  con- 
ferred upon  industry;  but  it  needs  only  a  slight  investigation  to  discover  how 
groundless  such  denials  aro  in  reforence  to  the  past;  and  elsewhere  in  the  Record 
we  shall  point  out  the  necessity  of  a  future  liberal  cultivation  of  pure  science,  with 
a  view  to  its  useful  applications.  In  the  present  age,  when  invention  succeeds 
invention  with  startling  rapidity,  no  nation  can  neglect  such  sources  of  improve- 


THE    NEW- YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


11 


ment  as,  known  or  latent,  exist  in  science,  and  hope  to  retain  its  manufacturing  or 
commercial  wealth  and  importance.  On  these,  political  influence  is  based  with  no 
remote  dependence,  and  the  instances  are  not  unfrequent  in  which  a  new  industry 
has  changed,  or  materially  modified,  the  international  balance  of  power.  An  in- 
vention of  this  order  of  excellence,  is  the  one  with  whose  early  history  we  com- 
mence this  series  of  notices. 


WHITNEY'S  COTTON  GIN. 

The  growth  of  cotton,  its  manufacture,  and  the  commerce  to  which  it  gives 
rise,  constitute  the  most  extraordinary  industry  recorded  in  the  world's  history. 
In  Great  Britain,  the  chief  and  wealthiest  seat  of  its  manufacture,  its  humble  com- 
mencement dates  from  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century ;  its  complete 
development  has  been  the  work  of  the  last  fifty  years;  and  in  1851,  it  employed 
one-eighth  of  the  population  of  the  United  Kingdom ;  its  exports  were  valued  at 
£30,000,000,  and  its  taxes  contributed  one-fourth  part  of  the  whole  national 
revenue. 

The  raw  material  which  supplies  this  vast  industry  is  obtained  chiefly  from  the 
United  States.  Of  the  whole  amount  consumed  in  England,  this  source  furnishes 
84  per  cent. ;  about  10  per  cent,  comes  from  India,  4  per  cent,  from  Brazil,  and  2 
per  cent,  from  the  Mediterranean.  The  cultivation  of  cotton  has  followed  the 
course  of  empires.  From  India,  where  it  has  been  used  from  time  immemorial,  it 
advanced  through  Arabia,  and  after  lingering  on  the  shores  of  the  Levant  and 
Northern  Africa,  it  crossed  the  ocean  and  rested  on  our  Atlantic  coast.  Here  it 
has  found  its  permanent  and  most  extensive  seat ;  it  has  occupied  the  whole  of 
the  Southern  States,  and  without  deserting  the  old,  still  seeks  new  fields  in  the 
virgin  West. 

American  cotton  has  two 
principal  varieties ;  the  sea-isl- 
and, the  finest  and  longest  in 
the  staple,  is  grown  only  on  the 
sandy  islands  of  Georgia  and 
Carolina.  It  is  easily  cleaned  by 
simple  mechanical  means ;  but 
the  shorter  staple  of  the  upland 
variety  is  so  firmly  entangled 
with  the'seed,  that  its  separa- 
tion by  hand  labor  involves  an 
expense  exceeding  the  value 
of  the  product.  This,  however, 
was  the  onLy  available  means 
previous  to  1793.  In  that 
year  the  genius  of  Eli  Whit- 
ney did  for  the  planters  of 
the  South,  what  "Aekwright, 
CROMPTOX,«md  Watt  had  al- 
ready done  for  the  manufac- 
turers of  England.  He  in- 
vented a  machine  by  which 
the  seeds  and  impurities  were 
separated  from  the  cotton  with 
the  utmost  facility,  and  thus 
gave  to  American  planters  the 
practical  monopoly  of  . cotton 
growing.  There  is  nothing  to 
be  compared  with  the  increase 
in  its  cultivation  subsequent  to 
Whitney's  invention,  except 
the  corresponding  extension  of 

its  manufacture  in  England.  The  absolute  dependence  of  the  cotton  trade  upontHis 
single  cause  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  States  which,  in  1785,  exported  five 
bags,  and  in  1793  three  hundred  and 
seven  bags,  were  able  in  1794.  the  year 
when  the  Cotton  Gin  came  into  general 
use,  to  produce  a  crop  of  17,777  bales, 
of  which  over  3000  bales  were  exported. 
In  1849,  the  export  rose  to  1,500,000 
bales;  which  amount  must*be  largely 
increased  in  1852  and  1853,  the  whole 
crop  in  the  United  States  being  about 
3,500,000  bales. 

Blustrations  of  the  original,  as  well 
as  present  construction  of  a  machine, 
which  has  exercised  so  striking  an  in- 
fluence upon  the  value  of  the  staple 


that  clothes  the  million,  cannot  fail  to  be  acceptable  to  our  readers.  The  Cot- 
ton Gin  received  several  improvements  from  the  inventor  up  to  1805.  In  the  two 
years  following,  Mr.  Whitney  manufactured,  at  New  Haven,  seventy  or  eighty 
of  his  improved  machines  to  fulfil  a  contract  with  the  Sjtate  0f  South  Carolina. 
He  was  assisted  by  Mr.  Joseph  Smith,  who  is  still  living  in  New  Haven,  and 
has  recently  testified  in  a  court  of  law,  that  the  Gin  described  below  is  one  of 
those  made  at  that  time,  and  that  it  has  all  of  Whitney's  improvements.  This  Gin 
is  now  in  possession  of  Bates,  Hyde  &  Co.,  manufacturers  of  the  Eagle  Cotton  Gin, 
at  Bridgewater,  Mass.,  and  from  this  the  following  drawings  have  been  made. 


Ullllillllillllllllllljiiiu/'  — 


FU.3. 


U 


Fig.  1,  represents  the  frame  supporting  an  iron  form,  upon  which  the  saw- 
cylinder  and  brush  are  hung.    Fig.  2,  gives  an  end  view  of  the  machine,  which 

shows  the  mode  of  boxing  the 
journals  and  retaining  them 
in  place.  The  seed-board  of 
the  hopper  A,  is  connected 
with  the  upper  part  by  hinges, 
and  may  be  placed  at  any  re- 
quirecL^distance  from  the  saw. 
The  back  of  the  hopper  B  de- 
scends nearly  to  the  saws  just 
behind  the  grating.  The  rear 
branch  of  the  grating  makes 
the  "bottom  of  the  moting- 
t rough  C;  it  also -contains  a 


to  two 
fig.  3, 


movable  false  bottom  of  tin, 
which  catches  the  motes.  The 
cylinder  contains  40  saws,  6f 
inches  in  diameter,  each  hav- 
ing 106  teeth;  they  are  sepa- 
rated at  distances  of  \  of  an 
inch  by  block  tin,  or  pewter 
castings.     The  7-inch  cylin- 
der brush  has  6  wings,  each 
extending  from  one  inch  below 
inches  above  the  surface,  where  they  receive  oblique  tufts  of  bristles.  In 
a  longitudinal  section  of  the  brush  is  shown ;  its  wings  are  seen  to  extend 

beyond  the  heads,  and  form  what  are  called 
projecting  lags.  The  machine  has  a  large  open- 
ing against  the  ends  of  the  brush  to  admit  the 
air  freely  to  these  lags,  and  thus  prevent  the 
cotton  from  winding  upon  the  axis  of  the 
brush.  The  mote-board,  made  of  slats  two  or 
three  inches  wide,  is  indicated  by  the  dotted 
lines  in  fig.  2.  The  hopper,  moting-trough,  &c. 
forming  one  part  of  the  Gin,  and  the  top  and 
ceiling  back  of  the  openings,  are  each  hung 
upon  the  upper  bar  of  the  iron  form,  and  may  be 
turned  back  at  pleasure.  In  the  first  Gin  rows  of 
pointed  wires  were  used,  from  which  the  transi- 
tion to  circular  saws  was  natural.    The  cast- 


[2 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


[From  p.  9.] 

Ulster  appreciation  of  the  true  place  and  uses  of  Art. 
We  are  no  longer  contented  with  the  plainness  that  was 
once  satislactory.  A  de- 
mand for  decoration  hag 
arisen  in  every  branch  of 
manufactures  ;  and  al- 
though ornament  has  some- 
times been  used  to  excess, 
and  inappropriately,  it  is 
still  a  movement  in  the  right 
direction,  and  shows  the  ne- 
cessity of  an  art-education 
among  the  people  by  fa- 
miliarity with  the  works 
of  the  best  masters.  With- 
in a  few  years  this  has  be- 
come possible  by  the  dis- 
covery of  new  methods 
and  materials  capable  of  re- 
producing works  of  high 
art,  with  beauty  unimpair- 
ed, and  at  a  price  which 
makes  them  accessible  to 
all.  In  ceramic  manufac- 
tures, such  improvements 
have  been  numerous  and  important 
Parian,  a  comparatively 
new  material,  has  given  to 
these  manufactures  a  feel- 
ing of  Art  and  a  power  of 
expressing  it  unknown  in 
other  materials.  Sculpture 
is  rendered  by  it  more 
faithfully  than  pictures  by 
engraving.  The  rich,  trans- 
parent tone,  and  semi- 
opaque  shadows  of  marble 
preserve  all  their  softness 
in  Parian.  The  introduc- 
tion of  Parian  into  general 
use  for  statuettes,  vases, 
and  other  ornamental 
works,  is  due  to  the  enter- 
prise of  Mr.  Alderman 
Uopeland,  whose  exten- 
sive manufactories  a  t 
Stoke-upon-Trent,  Stafford- 
shire, produce  every  va- 
riety of  pottery  of  unsur- 
passed excellence.  We  have 
enriched  several  pages  of 
the  Recobd  with  engrav- 
ings of  the  more  artistic  of 
the  specimens  displayed  in 
the  Exhibition  by  the  agent 
of  Mr.  Copeland,  Charles 
C.  Leigh,  of  New- York. 

The  first  of  the  exam- 
ples selected,  commencing 
the  ninth  page,  is  a  group 
of  Pillars,  Vases  and  Seats, 
for  the  garden  and  conser- 
vatory. Among  them  is 
the  celebrated  Warwick 
Vase,  twenty-two  inches 
high  and  thirty  inches 
wide,  surmounting  the  cen- 
tral column.  The  beauty 
and  fitness  of  these  objects 
must  commend  themselves 
to  every  one  who  can  ap- 
preciate Art  or  excellence 
of  workmanship.  Imme- 
diately below,  on  the  left,  is 
the  Garden  Vase,  twenty- 
six  inches  high,  from  the 
Townly  Collection  in  the 
British  Museum.  On  the 
right  of  the  last  is  a  Gre- 
cian Vase,  five  inches  in 
height,  with  a  top  perfor- 
*  ated  to  receive  cut  flowers. 
Next  follows  a  Vintage 
Jug,  produced  in  several 
sizes,  with  a  troop  of  boys 
gathering  the  clusters  from 
encircling  vines.  On  the 
right,  occupying  the  whole 
length  of  the  page,  is  an 
original  ornate  Pilaster 
Panel,  painted  in  encaustic 
or  wax,  in  the  Raffaelesque 
style  of  Arabesque.  The 
medallion  in  the  centre  re- 
presents a  personification 
of  the  United  States  award- 
ing a  crown  to  Industry. 
This  beautiful  decoration  is 
the  production  of  Eugenio 
Latilla,  an  eminent  artist- 


of  this  city.  We  continue  the  illustration  of  the  works 
contributed  by  Mr.  Copeland  upon  this  page  with  an 


name  implies,  of  the  somniferous  plant  The  base  is 
formed  of  expanded  leaves,  whose  steins  coil  about  the 


The  introduction  of  |  engraving  of  the  Poppy  Candlestick,  composed,  as  its 


handle,  while  the  socket  is  made  of  an  open,  and  the  ex- 
tinguisher of  a  closed  capsule.  Underneath  it  is  a  Vintage 
Pitcher,  ornamented  with  a  wreath  of  vines  and  grapes, 
and  bearing  on  its  side  a  design  of  the  infant  Bacchus 

holding  the   thyrsus,  and 
borne  in  the  arms  of  two 
boys.  The  Hanging  Basket, 
executed  in  Terra  Cotta,  is 
intended  for  the  parlor  cul- 
tivation   of  Orchidaceous 
and  other  trailing  plants — 
an  elegant  pastime  which 
we  should  be  glad  to  see 
introduced  amo/ig  our  coun- 
trywomen. The  cultivation 
of  beautiful  flowers  is  an 
employment  most   fit  for 
beautiful  women.  That  their 
fair  hands  should  tend,  and 
their  watchful  care  "assist 
in   developing   the  floral 
emblems    of     their  own 
purity,  and  grace,  and  love- 
liness, accords  with  all  we 
like  to  know  or  think  of 
the  daughters  of  Eve.  A 
cultivated  taste  for  flowers 
ranks  with  connaissance  in 
the  Fine  Arts,  as  indicating 
intelligence  and  refinement. 
'Tis   a  pity  that  any  one 
should  wait  for  expensive 
greenhouses  to  gratify  that 
taste.     A  few  vases  and 
hanging  baskets  are  all  that 
is  requisite  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  rarest  and  sweet- 
est of  the  floral  kingdom, 
and  to  realize  as  much  plea- 
sure as  may  be  gained  from 
the   princely   gardens  at 
Chatsworth.  The  statuette, 
9J  inches  high,  placed  on 
the  right,  represents  a  Ne- 
reid, one  of  the  lovely  di- 
vinities to  whom  the  beau- 
tiful mythology  of  ancient 
Greece  assigned  the  Medi- 
terranean as  their  abode, 
in    distinction    from  the 
Naiads,  who  were  nymphs 
of  streams  and  fountains, 
and   the    Oceanides,  who 
dwelt  in  the  great  ocean* 
The  remainder  of  the- page 
is  occupied  by  an  Etagere, 
profusely    and  elegantly 
carved  in  rosewood.  This 
fine  specimen  of  American 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


1?, 


cabinet-work,  is  from  the  establishment  of  T. 
Brooks,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.    The  demand  for  richly 


carved  furniture  in  the  renaissance  style  which 
began  a  few  years  ago,  keeps  pace  with  the  in- 


crease of  wealth  and  the  prevalence  of  orna- 
mental architecture. 


We  again  recur  to  the  productions  of  Mr.  Copeland.  The  Parian  sta- 
tuettes, placed  on  either  side,  are  modelled  after  the  designs  of  Cumber- 
worth,  and  represent  the  inseparable  Paul  and  Virginia,  with  the  story 
of  whose  romantic  love  and  friendship  every  child  has  been  made  familiar 
by  the  charming  tale  of  Bernardin  de  St.  Pierre.  The  Lily  Flower  Vase 
is  composed  of  the  leaves,  and  decorated  with  the  delicate  drooping  bells 
of  the  lily  of  the  valley,  the  loveliest  of  the  flowers  that  bear  that  lovely 


name.  Upon  the  opposite  side  is  a  Gothic  Vase,  thirteen  inches  in  height, 
whose  sides  are  pierced  to  show  its  glass  or  enamelled  lining. 

The  engraving  which  occupies  the  centre  of  the  page,  represents  the 
bust  of  Proserpine,  by  Powers.  The  head  is  ideal,  and  we  may  receive  it 
as  embodying  our  great  sculptor's  conception  of  female  beauty  in  repose. 
The  wreath  of  leaves  and  flowers  which  encircle  it,  allude,  perhaps,  re- 
motely to  the  legend,  familiar  in  the  poets,  of  the  field 

Of  Enna,  where  Proserpine  gathering  flowers, 
Herself  a  fairer  flower,  by  gloomy  Dis 
-  Was  gathered. 

The  learned  Germans  who  regard  the  whole  Grecian  mythology  as  person- 
ifying natural  phenomena,  interpret  the  legend  as  follows:  Proserpine,. who 
is  carried  off  to  the  lower  world,  is  the  seed  corn  that  for  a  time  is  buried 


in  the  ground ;  Proserpine,  who  returns  to  her 

TV 


mother,  is  the  corn  which  rises  again  to  support 


mankind.  The  Proserpine  is  exhibited  by  Sidney 
Brooks,  Esq.,  of  New- York. 


The  rosewood  horizontal  grand  Pianoforte,  engraved  I  William  Stodart  &  Son,  of  Golden  Square,  London.  The  I  its  simplicity,  efficiencyi  and  durability,  and  these  sterling 
on  this  page,  is  from  the  well-known  manufactory  of  |  mechanism  of  Messrs.  Stodart's  pianos  is  remarkable  for  |  qualities  are  united  with  exterior  beauty. 


If 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


brass  grating  model  is  shown  in  fig.  4.  The  improved  grate,  fig.  5,  must  have 
been  the  fruit  of  skilful  research.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  forked  grate  is  no  recent 
novelty. 

The  Eagle  Cotton  Gin,  of  which  an  engraving  is  horo  given,  although  modified 
by  improvements  of  various  details  and  workmanship,  still  remains  substan- 
tially the  same  as  in  the  original  invention. 

It  is  a  theory  much  in  favor  with  inventors  and  the  public,  and  often  enforced 
by  many  plausible  instances,  that  brilliant  discoveries  are  made  by  accident;  and, 
indeed,  it  is  easy  to  collect  examples  where  chance  has  apparently  given  birth  to 
very  wonderful  realities.  But  if  we  could  instituto  more  careful  inquiries,  wo 
should  learn  that  the  fortunate  accident  only  set  in  motion  a  train  of  thought  in  a 
mind  already  prepared  to  receive  it.  Such  accidents  never  happen  to  fools.  A 
majority  of  cases  show  us  the  new  discovery  elaborated  by  repeated  trials,  and 
each  improvement  won  at  the  cost  of  unremitting  experiment  and  thought.  Such 
■was  the  case  with  WniTNEY. 

In  the  year  1792j  while  residing  in  Georgia,  he  had  often  exhibited  his  peculiar 
talents,  by  various  inventions  to  gratify  the  lady  in  whose  house  he  was  a  guest. 
By  her  he  was  introduced  to  several  planters  as  a  fit  person  to  give  value  to  their 
cotton  crops,  by  inventing  an  expeditious  method  of  cleaning  it.  He  saw  how 
desirable  the  object  was,  and  felt  that  he  could  accomplish  it.  Having  provided 
himself  with  a  quantity  of  cotton  in  the  seed,  which,  until  then,  he  had  never 
seen,  and,  making  his  own  tools,  he  shut  himself  up,  until,  after  several  months  of 
seclusion,  he  emerged  with  the  Cotton  Gin  to  testify  to  the  success  of  his  prolonged 
exertions. 


THE  BRITISH  COMMISSION. 

TIMES  are  changed,  surely,  when  Great  Britain  thinks  it  worth  while  to 
send  a  Commission  of  her  Nobles  and  her  distinguished  Men  of  Science,  to 
report  upon  the  arts  and  industry  of  the  United  States.  The  World  has  certainly 
in  these  latter  years  advanced  in  catholic  and  liberal  sentiments,  and  nowhere 
more  signally  than  in  Great  Britain.  We  have  formerly  welcomed  to  our  shores 
the  Government  Commissioners  of  France,  of  Prussia,  and  even  of  despotic  Austria 
and  Russia,  to  look  into  our  systems  of  prison  discipline,  of  popular  education,  and 
our  various  industrial  arts.  The  Turk  has  so  far  yielded  his  Asiatic  torpor  to  the 
impulse  of  progress,  as  to  send»to  the  wrestern  world  for  his  cotton-growers,  geolo- 
gists and  engineers,  and  has  subsequently  dispatched  an  agent  to  make  a  reconnais- 
sance of  the  various  States  of  his  Republican  friends.  But  Great  Britain,  confident 
of  her  own  strength,  has  heretofore  rested  in  careless  disregard  of  the  progress  in 
arts  of  her  transatlantic  scions,  and  has  amused  herself  with  Jonathan's  self-love 
and  fondness  for  vaunting  his  own  performances.  If  she  has  been  sometimes  startled 
in  her  dreams  of  political  economy,  by  the  alarming  dependence  of  her  manufactur- 
ing population  upon  a  single  great  staple  of  American  agriculture  (an  alarm  not 
diminished  by  the  unsuccessful  experiments  to  force  a  supply  of  cotton  from  India), 
she  has  always  consoled  herself  with  the  comfortable  reflection  that  the  United 
States  were,  and  must  continue  to  be,  her  best  customers  for  the  products  of  her 
looms  and  forges.  This  conservative  and  self-sustaining  sentiment  has  been  par- 
ticularly strong  in  the  minds  of  the  agricultural  population,  who  have  been  ready 
to  sneer  at  the  thought  of  competition  from  American  skill  in  any  department  of 
industry. 

The  Great  Exhibition  was  a  noble  step,  worthy  of  England's  place  among  civil- 
ized nations,  but  not  a  final  one ;  it  was  a  means  to  an  end,  and  not  the  "end  itself. 
The  Commission  whose  appointment  it  is  our  gratifying  duty  to  record,  shows  one 
mode  by  which  the  Exhibition  will  be  the  world's  permanent  benefactor,  by 
stimulating  nations  to  mutually  investigate  their  resources,  and  supply  their 
mutual  deficiencies.  In  England,  it  has  shown  manufacturers  that  they  were 
weakest  in  many  points  where  they  thought  themselves  strongest.  The  reports  of 
the  Juries  assure  us  of  the  superiority  of  nearly  all  the  continental  manufactures  in 
the  adaptation  of  the  arts  of  design  to  the  purposes  of  utility  and  ornament;  and 
it  was  found,  besides,  that  English  iron  and  steel  were  returned  from  the 
United  States  in  the  form  of  agricultural  implements,  which  were  sold  in  London, 
all  expenses  paid,  at  little  more  than  half  the  cost  of  such  tools  of  her  own  manufac- 
ture. In  spite  of  all  the  deeply-rooted  prejudices  of  her  agriculturists  for  the 
ponderous  and  misshapen  implements  of  toil,  which  they  had  for  generations  been 
accustomed  to  use,  the  American  tools  have  pushed  their  way  into  general  favor. 
With  such  arguments  as  these,  more  conviction  was  carried  in  a  day  into  the 
minds  of  Her  Majesty's  subjects,  of  the  existence  of  a  people  in  the  western  world, 
able  to  compete  with  them,  than  all  our  vainglorious  boasting  could  have  accom- 
plished in  a  thousand  years.  And  this  too  in  spite  of  our  acknowledged  short 
coinings,  greater  by  fur  and  more  crushing  to  national  pride  than  can  be  well 
understood  by  those  who  were  so  fortunate  as  not  to  see  them.  Indeed,  thcro 
was  for  Americans,  at  the  London  Exhibition,  more  cause  for  mortification,  that 
we  had  so  sadly  misrepresented  ourselves,  than  for  tho  indulgence  of  self-con- 
gratulations.   Like  England,  we  too  learned  on  that  occasion,  that  we  were  in 


some  points  strongest  when  we  made  no  boast,  and  weakest  where  we  laid  our 
strength. 

It  is  not  possible  accurately  to  estimate  the  results  of  the  London  Exhibition  upon 
the  future  of  the  world's  progress — one  of  those  results  we  may  safely  say  is  seen  in 
the  present  Commission.  The  American  Exhibition  of  New-York  has  served  as  the 
occasion  for  sending  it  at  the  present  time.  We  are  assured,  however,  that  the 
powers  of  the  Commission  are  not  confined  within  the  walls  of  the  building  on 
Reservoir  Square,  but  that  they  are  to  investigate  all  that  can  be  seen  of  American 
skill  and  progress  in  every  department  of  industry.  The  delay  in  the  opening  of 
the  building  has  been,  therefore,  of  some  advantage,  as  it  has  furnished  the  British 
Commissioners  with  an  opportunity  of  seeing,  meantime,  many  things  in  the 
neighboring  States  which  they  might  have  otherwise  missed. 

The  Commission  is  composed  as  follows,  viz. : — 

The  Earl  of  Ellesmere. 

Sir  Cuaules  Lyell,  F.  R.  S.,  F.  G.  S.  &c,  &c. 

Mr.  Charles  Wentwokth  Dii.ke,  London. 

Mr.  Thomas  WniTwoRTii,  of  Manchester. 

Mr.  George  Wallis,  of  Birmingham, 

Prof.  John  Wilson,  F.  R.  S.  E.,  F.  G.  S.,  F.  C.  S. 
The  three  first  are  Royal  Commissioners,  that  is,  they  are  members  of  a  perma- 
nent Commission,  emanating  from  the  Queen,  in  1851,  for  the  London  Exhibition, 
and  continued  as  a  permanent  chartered  Board,  charged  with  the  custody  and 
direction  of  the  surplus  fund,  accumulated  on  that  occasion.  Hence  the  propriety 
of  naming  these  distinguished  gentlemen  upon  the  present  Government  Commis- 
sion to  the  United  States.  The  three  last  named  gentlemen  are  simply  j 
Commissioners  appointed  for  this  special  duty,  and  whoso  office  will  cease  when 
they  have  rendered  their  report. 

The  Earl  or  Ellesmere  (formerly  Lord  Francis  Egerton)  is  one  of  the  wealth- 
iest of  the  English  Peers,  and  is  distinguished  for  his  devotion  to  literature  and  the 
fine  arts.  He  came  to  America  in  the  Frigate  Leander,  accompanied  by  his 
family.  The  Earl  was  born  in  1800,  and  is  the  second  son  of  the  late  Duke  of 
Sutherland.  As  an  author,  the  Earl  is  respected  for  his  excellent  rendering  of 
the  poems  of  Schiller  and  Kdrner,  for  his  spirited  version  of  Goethe's  Faust, 
and  for  his  Guide  to  the  Study  of  Northern  Antiquities,  published  by  the  Royal 
Society  of  Antiquaries  of  Copenhagen.  His  "Mediterranean  Sketches,"  was 
the  result  of  a  pleasure  jaunt  in  his  own  yacht  in  1840,  when  ho  visited  the 
shores  of  the  Levant,  to  enjoy  its  classical  and  picturesque  associations.  Bis  lord- 
ship has  also  figured  in  political  life.  As  Lord  Francis  Leveson  Gower,  he  was  a 
member  of  Parliament  in  1830.  Under  Lord  Anglesey,  he  was  Secretary  for 
Ireland,  and  Secretary  at  War  under  Lord  Wellington).  His  magnificent  gallery 
of  paintings,  inherited  from  his  grandfather  the  Duke  of  Bridgcwater,  and  greatly 
enriched  by  his  own  purchases,  is  one  of  tho  few  private  galleries  in  England 
which  is  kept  open  at  all  times  for  the  public.  Among  other  valuable  works 
of  Art  contributed  by  the  Earl  to  the  American  Exhibition,  is  the  original 
Chandos  portrait  of  Shakspeare.  This  unique  memorial  of  the  groat  Dramatist 
is  of  itself  attractive  enough  to  draw  throngs  of  visitors  to  the  picture  gallery. 
It  is  understood  that  the  Earl  of  Ellesmere  will  devote  himself  particularly  to 
the  Fine  Arts  Department  of  the  Exhibition. 

•  Sir  Charles  Lyell  is  quite  too  well  known  in  America  to  need  any  introduc- 
tion at  our  hands.  This  is  his  fourth  visit  to •  the  United  States,  where  he  can 
probably  count  nearly  as  many  personal  friends  as  in  England,  and  as  many 
readers  for  his  truly  classical  works  on  Geology.  His  two  series  of  published 
travels  in  the  United  States  arc  models  of  fairness  in  their  views  of  society,  in 
America,  and  permanently  valuable  for  the  great  stock  of  geological  observations 
they  embody.  It  is  certainly  not  very  creditable  to  us  in  America,  that  the  Geolo- 
gical Map  of  the  United  States,  appended  to  the  first  series  of  his  travels,  and  nt 
tho  date  of  its  compilation,  . a  very  creditable  production,  still  remains  the  best,  if 
not  the  only  general  map  of  the  kind  which  we  have. 

Mr.  Dilke  was  one  of  the  three  Executive  Commissioners  who  had  entiro 
charge  of  the  London  Exhibition.  His  labors  upon  that  occasion  were  constant, 
various,  and  most  ably  performed,  and  are  tho  more  honorably  remembered,  inas- 
much as  ho  has  steadily  declined  receiving  any  consideration  or  reward  cither 
from  his  Government  or  from  the  Commissioners.  He  is  known  as  a  distin- 
guished critic  in  literature  and  art,  and  has  been  long  connected,  as  proprietor, 
with  the  London  Athenanim,  one  of  the  ablest  literary  journals  in  our  language. 

Mr.  Whitwoeth  is  what  we  in  America  understand  by  a  practical  man — he  is 
England's  great  tool-maker,  and  is  known  wherever  in  the  wide  world  Manchester 
tools  are  used.  His  niicrometic  dividing  engine,  for  measuring  the  millionth  part 
of  an  inch,  excited  tho  greatest  attention  among  the  mechanical  wonders  at 
Hyde  Park.  This  apparatus  is  among  the  other  curious  and  valuable  machines 
which  Mr.  Whitworth  shows  in  New- York. 
•  Bis  new  method  of  obtaining  perfectly  plain  surfaces  in  hard  materials,  was 
the  subject  of  an  able  paper  which  was  read  by  him  some  years  since  before  the 
Mechanical  Section  of  the  British  Association.  Lately  he  has  made  important 
suggestions  to  the  Government  of  Great  Britain  upon  an  improved  method  of 
fixing  the  length  of  the  standard  yard  measure — suggestions  which  have  received 


THE    NEW  - YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


If* 


the  support  of  Sir  John  Hersohel,  and  other  distinguished  physicists  in  England. 
He  has  also  an  important  plan  respecting  a  uniform  guage  for  ships'  screwbolts, 
which  he  is  urging  at  present  upon  the  attention  of  the  English  Admiralty,  and 
also  upon  our  authorities  at  Washington — the  adoption  of  which  will  be  a  great 
blessing  to  all  maritime  nations. 

The  readers  of  the  London  Art  Journal  have  not  forgotten  the  admirable 
paper  of  Mr.  Wallis  on  "Art,  Science  and  Manufacture  as  a  Unity,"  an  essay 
in  four  chapters,  which  elicited  from  Mr.  Hall,  the  distinguished  editor  of  the  Art 
Journal,  a  complimentary  prize  of  one  hundred  guineas.  Mr.  Wallis  is  Head  Mas- 
ter of  the  Government  School  of  Design  at  Birmingham,  to  which  situation  he  was 
advanced  by  his  merits  from  the  same  post  in  the  Manchester  School  of  Design, 
which  he  had  formerly  held.  It  is  to  be  hoped,  that  one  result  following  our 
American  Exhibition  will  be  the  establishment  of  similar  schools  of  design  for,  the 
benefit  of  our  manufacturing  districts,  in  which  all  who  choose  may  have  an 
opportunity  to  study  the  principles  and  practice  of  Art. 

The  Agricultural  interest  of  Great  Britain  could  not  have  been  confided  to 
a  bettef  representative  than  Prof.  John  Wilson.  His  long  experience  as  a 
writer  and  teacher,  fit  him  peculiarly  for  this  department.  Formerly  Principal 
of  the  Eoyal  Agricultural  College  at  Cirencester,  and  Chairman  of  the  Commis- 
sion on  Juries  at  the  London  Exhibition,  he  has  enjoyed  rare  advantages  for 
making  himself  thoroughly  acquainted  with  all  that  relates  to  the  great  depart- 
ments of  Agriculture  and  the  Raw  Materials  generally.  He  will  give  his  special 
attention  to  our  resources  in  produce,  and  in  agricultural  tools  and  implements. 

A  glance  at  the  various  Juries  and  Commissions  in  the  "Report  of  the  Juries" 
of  the  London  Exhibition,  will  show  that  all  the  gentlemen  upon  the  present  Com- 
mission are  men  of  large  experience  in  their  several  departments,  and  quite 
familiar  with  the  detail  of  management  upon  such  occasions  as  the  present. 
Much  of  the  success  of  this  Commission,  in  forming  a  correct  estimate  of  the 
resources  and  relative  position  of  the  United  States,  will  depend  upon  the  treat- 
ment they  meet,  at  the  hands  of  the  various  parties  to  whom  they  must  resort  as 
the  reliable  sources  of  information,  in  the  several  departments  to  which  their  Com- 
missions refer.  We  cannot  for  a  moment  question  that  they  will  find  every  where 
the  greatest  willingness  to  forward  their  views.  We  hope  that  they  may  be  able 
to  say  that  they  have  found  no  doors  closed  against  their  entrance,  and  no  narrow- 
minded  withholding  of  the  various  information  sought.  Such  unwillingness, 
where  it  exists,  is  generally  a  proof  of  weakness ;  and  it  is  certainly  true  that  we 
have,  in  nearly  every  case,  more  to  gain  than  we  have  to  impart,  especially  in  the 
various  arts  of  applied  science. 


INTERIOR  DECORATION". 

INTERIOR  decoration  has  been  practised  in  different  countries  from  the  most  re- 
mote periods,  and  it  has  assumed  national  and  marked  characteristics,  as  among 
the  Egyptians,  Assyrians,  Hindoos,  Chinese,  Greeks,  Romans,  and  Saracens.  From 
the  greater  freedom  of  intercourse  in  later  periods,  the  peculiarities  of  the  art  have 
been  less  decidedly  pronounced,  yet  there  has  always  been  in  each  style  sufficient 
to  render  it  national  and  unique  ;  as  the  Renaissance,  the  Raffaelesque,  and  the  Ara- 
besque. The  latter,  whose  beauty  and  suitability  to  modern  times,  has  caused  it  to 
be  so  widely  diffused,  commenced,  and  was  invented  by  Ludius,  a  painter  of  the 
time  of  Augustus  Cesar.  The  exquisite  frescoes  of  the  Baths  of  Titus,  buried  for 
centuries  in  the  devastations  of  the  Roman  wars,  were  resuscitated  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  the  sight  of  them  revived  the  style  of  the  Arabesque,  which  was 
brought  out  and  perfected  by  the  prince  of  painters,  Raffael  d'URBiNO,  since 
whose  time  it  has  received  the  name  of  the  Raffaelesque  style  of  decoration. 

Greece  and  Italy  have  been  foremost  in  all  the  arts  of  design,  and  the  orna- 
ments of  their  dwellings  and  public  buildings  have  remained  as  examples  and  au- 
thorities of  taste,  down  to  our  own  age.  The  Greeks  carried  the  arts  into  Italy, 
and  the  paintings  at  Pompeii  and  Ilerculaneum  are  the  works  of  Greek  artists. 
The  Italian  houses  are  still  decorated,  from  the  abode  of  the  artisan  to  the  palace 
of  the  noble:  the  former  in  tempera  (distemper,  or  size-color  erroneously  called 
fresco  in  the  United  States),  the  latter  in  genuine  fresco,  which  is  painting  on  a  wet 
stucco.  The  colors  of  genuine  fresco  become  permanent  and  indelible;  distemper, 
on  the  contrary,  is  easily  obliterated,  and  has  none  of  the  high  qualities  of  fresco. 
Germany,  in  the  present  day,  is  following  Italy  in  interior  decoration,  and  has  pro- 
duced some  of  the  finest  works  of  modern  times  under  the  patronage  and  direc- 
tion of  Louis  I.,  ex-king  of  Bavaria. 

In  England,  where  wealth  might  be  expected  to  minister  to  taste,  the  uphol- 
sterer, not  the  artist,  is  consulted  by  the  nobility ;  there  is  therefore  abundance  of 
paper  and  gilding,  but  little  art,  or  genuine  taste,  in  the  disposition  of  ornament 
in  English  mansions.  New- York,  in  this  respect,  bids  fair  to  surpass  London,  for  al- 
ready there  are  several  buildings  that  show  specimens  of  good  taste  and  judgment 
in  artistic  decoration.  It  is  true,  they  are  not  in  fresco,  though  called  so,  but  in 
distemper;  yet  when  this  fact  is  generally  known,  proprietors  and  societies  will 
demand  the  real  fresco  done  in  the  stucco,  instead  of  that  which  has  only  its  name, 


since  the  difference  between  the  two  is  more  than  nominal.  Much  has  been  done 
here  in  chiaro-oscuro  (brown  and  white),  but  these  decorations  seldom  go  beyond 
ornament,  and  may  be  executed  chiefly  by  mechanical  means,  while  fresco  requires 
a  combination  of  all  the  highest  excellencies  of  art. 

Interior  decoration,  as  practised  by  the  Egyptians  in  their  temples  and  palaces, 
though  abounding  in  fine  examples  from  which  to  learn  principles  of  grandeur,  is  not 
calculated  for  adoption,  owing  to  the  exclusively  national  character  pervading  it,  cir- 
cumscribed still  more  by  peculiar  religious  laws.  The  best  specimens  of  decorative 
pointing  among  the  Egyptians,  are  to  be  found  on  the  coffins  of  their  kings  and  nobles. 
These  are  in  tempera,  or  size-color,  afterwards  varnished ;  burnished  gold  also  forms 
parts  of  these  elaborate  decorations  which  resemble  in  some  degree  the  highly 
wrought  illuminations  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  Egyptian  mural  decorations 
painted  on  stucco,  and  modelled  or  incised  into  form,  were  inverted,  representa- 
tions like  a  seal  engraving,  and  painted  simply  with  local  color ;  the  flesh  is 
reddish,  without  shadow  or  lights,  chiaro-oscuro  forming  no  part  of  Egyptian 
painting ;  red,  green,  yellow,  and  black  were  used  for  the  draperies,  and  blue, 
sometimes  studded  with  stars,  for  the  ceiling;  while  the  walls  were  covered  with 
histories,  legends,  and  ceremonies,  painted' on  a  white  ground.  Without  perspec- 
tive, anatomy,  or  light  and  shade,  Egyptian  painting  possesses  dignity  and  eleva- 
tion. Its.  simplicity  and  severity  of  outline  form  the  true  elements  of  the  sub- 
lime, and  these  high  qualities  characterized  all  their  architecture,  as  \tell  as 
decoration;  vulgarity  and  commonplace  were  utterly  excluded  from  both. 

The  interior  decorations  of  Assyria  and  Babylon  (with  which  the  excavations 
of  Botta  and  Bayard  have  made  us  acquainted),  were  based  on  nearly  the  same 
principles  as  those  of  the  Egyptians,  except,  that'  instead  of  being  colored  intaglios, 
they  were  bas-reliefs  in  alabaster,  showing  motion  and  action,  while  in  the  former 
all'  is  passive.  The  eye,  like  that  in  Egyptian  painting,  is  always  full,  even 
in  a  profile  view  of  the  face.  Many  of  the  historic  subjects  are  on  a  blue  ground, 
and  must  have  had  a  charming  effect  when  first  painted ;  the  gorgeous  chariots, 
with  prancing  horses,  and  the  winged  deities  of  colossal  proportions,  possess  a  de- 
gree of  grandeur  that  compensates  for  the  absence  of  all  lesser  excellencies,  and 
are  well  worthy  of  observation  and  study. 

The  Greeks,  unlike  the  Egyptians  and  Assyrians,  called  into  exercise  all  the  agen- 
cies of  art ;  though  they  gained  rich  stores  of  power  from  those  nations,  the  Greeks 
were  untrammelled  and  free  to  use  every  appliance  that  nature  in  her  infinite 
variety  presented.  Egypt  served  as  a  firm  basis  to  the  Greek,  while  Assyrian  art 
supplied  him  wit!)  materials  for  a  superb  superstructure,  which  he  carried  to  a 
height  that  still  makes  men  wonder  and  admire.  The  Greek  temples  and  edifices, 
public  and  private,  were  decorated  with  infinite  taste.  Phidias  sculptured  their  ex- 
teriors, Polygnotus  and  Micon  painted  interiors  in  encaustic,  as  is  recorded  of  the 
Poecile,  where,  among  many  exciting  subjects,  the  triumph  of  Theseus  and  the 
victory  of  Marathon,  were  executed  by  the  public  desire. 

The  Greeks  were  the  inventors  of  encaustic  and  fresco  painting  for  decora- 
tion, and  these  are  the  two  most  valuable  and  durable  modes  for  that  purpose, 
The  Romans  eagerly  adopted  Greek  art,  for  they  discerned  its  pre-eminent  excel- 
lence. The  cities  of  Pompeii  and  Ilerculaneum,  originally  Greek  colonies,  show 
Greek  painting  exercised  under  Roman  influence  and  adapted  to  Roman  customs. 
The  encaustic  and  fresco  paintings  of  Pompeii  are  models  of  mural  decoration  ;  and 
the  best  we  possess  in  modern  times,  is  but  a  distant  imitation  of  them.  The 
beauty  of  the  polychromatic  style  is  there  seen,  transcending  all  the  false  pse- 
tensions  of  gilt,  papier-mache  and  mirrored  walls;  and  when  exhumed  after  a 
burial  of  seventeen  centuries,  it  reappears  to  instruct  the  eye.  of  this  enlightened 
age,  and  to  put  to  shame  the  gewgaws  and  tinsel  that  are  miscalled  taste.  Ephe- 
meral fashions,  however  good  for  trade,  should  be  excluded  from  the  arts,  espe- 
cially in  mural  decorations ;  for  want  of  observing  this  rule,  there  are  numerous 
palaces  and  churches,  even  in  Italy,  that  exhibit  all  the  defects  and  corruptions  of 
the  period  of  Louis  XIV.  and  Louis  XV.,  and  these,  now  that  the  fashion  is  past,  are 
seen  in  all  their  native  deformity  ;  those  on  the  contrary  that  combine  fine  taste 
with  excellent  workmanship,  please  now,  as  at  first,  and  are  esteemed  by  all 
nations. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  cultivated  Americans  who  enjoy  the  luxury  of  art 
abroad,  should  be  content  with  whitewashed  walls  at  home.  If  any  attempt  is 
made  to  decorate  mansions  here,  it  is  generally  in  distemper  (brown  and  white) 
only,  without  figures,  and  this,  though  often  costly,  adds  little  to  the  value  or  in- 
terest of  a  house. 

Encaustic  is  a  method  of  painting  with  wax  and  color.  The  wax  is  dissolved 
in  naphtha,  or  some  essential  oil,  and  with  this  the  wall  or  canvas  is  well  saturated, 
and  the  preparation  driven  in  by  the  application  of  heat.  The  ancients,  as  we  see  in 
specimens  from  Pompeii,  frequently  used  a  coat  of  black,  upon  which  they  painted 
the  subject  with  wax  in  a  liquefied  state  mixed  with  gum-mastic,  or  any  adhesive 
resin.  After  this  a  coat  of  wax  varnish  was  given,  and  the  whole  submitted  to  a 
sufficient  heat  to  amalgamate  and  incorporate  the  painting  and  varnish  together. 
In  this  state  it  is  without  glare,  but  a  polish  may  be  afterwards  given  by  mere 
friction,  if  desired.  When  properly  done,  it  is  very  durable,  exceeding  even 
the  durability  of  fresco,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  works  that  still  exist.  Any,  and 
every  color,  may  be  employed  in  encaustic,  for  wax  possesses  the  quality  of  pre- 


Hi 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


We  introduce  upon  this  page  engravings  of 
two  Silver  Jugs,  which  we  have  selected  from 
the  contributions  of  Mr.  Joseph  Angell,  of  Lon- 
don, designer  and  manufacturer  of  silver  ware. 


The  first  is  ornamented  in  relief  with  a  vine  bear- 
ing clusters  of  grapes,  and  we  presume  that  it 
is  intended  for  a  claret  jug  ;  the  special  object  of 
the  other  we  have  not  ascertained.  In  articles 
which,  like  these,  are  designed  to  be  useful  not 
less  than  ornamental,  greater  regard  should  be  had 
to  the  fitness  of  the  vessel's  shape  and  ornament  to 
its  intended  purpose.  A  jug  may  have  all  the  ele- 
gance within  the  power  of  art  to  bestow,  but,  at 
the  same  time,  the  fact  should  not  be  forgotten 
that  a  fluid  is  to  be  contained  in  it,  and  poured 
from  it,  and  its  shape  should  be  moulded  with  re- 
ference to  these  essential  uses.  Its  mouth  must 
be  capacious  enough  to  admit  the  hand  in  cleans- 
ing its  interior,  and  to  permit  its  contents  to  be 
poured  out  without  the  necessity  of  inverting 
it  like  a  bottle,  and  the  handles  should  be  placed 
so  as  to  facilitate  this  operation.    In  articles  of 


utility,  symmetry  and  elegance  must  not  be  con- 
sidered apart  from  use,  but  in  connection  with  it, 
since  what  is  abstractly  graceful  may  beeomo  less 
or  not  at  all  bo,  when  it  is  obviously  misapplied  to 
foreign  or  incompatible  purposes.  A  design  which 
would  be  noble  and  beautiful  on  the  frescoed 


walls,  or  sculptured  frieze  of  a  temple,  becomes  ludicrous 
and  vulgar  if  perpetrated  in  paper-hangings  or  wrought  in 
a  carpet.  These  principles  are  general  in  their  scope  and 
application,  and  the  not  infrequent  violation  of  them  which 


we  shall  have  occasion  to  comment  upon  in  the  Re- 
cord, shows  how  necessary  a  wide-spread  aesthetic  culture 
is,  before  we  can  become  a  really  civilized  anl  polished 

people. 


The  Ganymede  of  Tliorwaldsen,  the  original  work  of  that 
great  sculptor,  is  exhibited  by  Edward  Beoii,  Esq.,  the  Danish 
consul  for  New-York.  In  that  beautiful  mythology  which, 
in  every  age,  has  furnished  to  the  sculptor  the  finest  subjects 
of  his  art,  the  son  of  Tros  and  Callirhoe  is  said  to  have  sur- 
passed all  mortals  in  beauty,  for  which,  by  command  of  Jupi- 


ter, he  was  carried  off  to  heaven,  where  he  was  endowed 
with  immortal  youth,  and  made  cup-bearer  of  the  gods  in 
place  of  Hebe.  The  sculptor,  following  the  customary  ex- 
ample of  ancient  art,  represents  a  beautiful  youth,  with  a 
Phrygian  cap,  kneeling,  and  giving  food  to  the  eagle  from  a 
patera. 


The  ornamental  Fire  Grate  here  engraved,  is  exhibit- 
ed by  George  Walker,  of  New- York.  The  body,  and  the 
scroll-work  with  which  it  is  profusely  decorated,  are  excel- 
lent examples  of  fine  castings  in  iron.    The  arched  mould- 


ings surrounding  the  fire,  and  the  horizontal  moulding  above, 
are  covered  with  a  brilliant  varnish  or  enamel,  and  the  space 
between  them  has  Inndscape  vignettes  painted  in  colors  and 
covered  with  plate-glass. 


THE    NEW-YOI^K    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


17 


We  fill  another  page  with  the  beautiful  statuettes  and 
rases  in  Parian,  exhibited  by  Mr.  Copeland.  The  first  in 


order  is  Undine,  the  water  nymph  of  German  romance, 
modelled  after  Pradier.    The  Vintage  Vase,  underneath, 


cotta  commences  the  second  column,  and  is  follow 


ed  by  an  antique  VASE*with  a  design  from  the 


is  ornamented  with  appropriate  symbols — cluster-bearing 
vines  which  twine  around  the  edge.  That  which  follows, 


called  the  Georgian  Vase,  is  eleven  inches  high;  and  is  de- 
signed for  the  conservatory.    A  Hanging  Basket  in  terra- 


Elgin  marbles.    The  statuette,  modelled  after  the 


Sutherland,  represents  Apollo  when  he  was  the  shepherd  boy  of 


Admetus.  The  finest  of  all  these  productions  is  the  poetical  Saisri- 
na,  modelled  after  Marshall,  who  represents  her  listening  to  the 
invocation  of  the  brothers  in  Milton's  Masque  of  Comus. 

Sabrina  fair, 

Listen  where  thou  art  sitting 
Under  the  glassy,  cool,  translucent  wave, 

In  twisted  braids  of  lilies  knittiDg 
The  loose  train  of  thy  amber-dropping  hair. 


original  by  Wyatt,  in  the  gallery  of  the  Duke  of 


The  page  concludes  with  a  statuette  of  Psyche. 


18  THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  RATIONS. 

—  —  L 


serving  even  the  most  evanescent.  Encaustic  painting  shows  great  softness  and 
delicacy,  and  does  not,  like  an  oil  picture,  become  darker  by  time.  It  also  reflects, 
instead  of  absorbing  light,  and  on  this  account  it  is  well  seen  by  artificial  light. 

Fresco  painting  is  altogether  a  different  process  from  that  of 'encaustic.  It  is 
also,  as  remarked  in  the  commencement  of  this  article,  far  removed  from  what  is 
called  fresco  in  the  United  States,  where  this  branch  of  art  is  almost  entirely  un- 
known. Fresco,  as  its  name  implies,  is  painted  while  the  mortar  is  wet.  A  piece 
of  stucco,  composed  of  lime  and  sand,  or  lime  and  marble  dust,  is  laid  smoothly 
on  the  wall,  when  the  artist  marks  out  his  design,  or  as  much  of  it  as  he  can  com- 
plete (luring  the  day,  for  real  fresco  docs  not  admit  of  retouching  when  dry.  But 
few  colors  are  admissible  in  this  process,  as  the  causticity  of  the  lime  destroys  all 
vegetable  ones;  the  earths  are  used,  aud  some  few  oxides  and  minerals;  the 
French  Guimet  blue  (the  artificial  ultramarine)  is  very  valuable,  as  it  affords  a 
substitute  equal  in  appearance  to  the  ultramarine,  which  formerly  could  only  be 
obtained  from  the  costly  lapi?-lazuli. 

FreSfco  is  acknowledged  to  be  the  finest  variety  of  decorative  painting. 
Michael  Anoelo  said,  that,  compared  with  it,  oil  was  fit  only  for  women 
and  children;  and  Vasaki  calls  it,  "veramente  il  piu  virile,  piti  sicuro,  phi 
risoluto,  e  durabile,  di  tutte  gli  aitri  modi."  Great  knowledge  and  skill  are  re- 
quired in  each  department  of  fresco,  for  no  defects  can  be  supplied,  no  mistakes 
remedied ;  the  higher  qualities  of  art,  as  composition,  accurate  drawing,  and  har- 
monious arrangement  of  color,  are  the  points  to  be  aimed  at ;  grandeur  and  sim- 
plicity take  the  place  of  prettiness  alid  detail,  a\l  must  be  masterly  and  decided  ; 
hence  fresco  is  fitted  to  make  great  artists,  and  great  designers,  and  we  find  that 
wherever  it  has  taken  deep  root  in  a  country,  the  arts  have  held  a  high  position, 
as  in  Italy,  and  in  our  own  day  in  Germany,  where  the  great  frescoes  of  Cornelius, 
OvEitBECK,  Kattlbacii,  Lessing,  Hess,  and  Sohnoe,  have  rendered  Munich  illus- 
trious, and  the  resort  of  all  who  study  or  esteem  the  fine  arts. 

The  United  States,  at  a  distance  from  the  great  examples  of  European 
art,  should  endeavor  to  form  a  high  standard  of  taste,  both  as  a  means  of 
elegant  cultivation,  and  in  order  to  advance  their  manufactures,  for  it  is  impossi- 
ble for  these  to  flourish  where  the  arts  of  design  are  uncultivated.  Take  away  taste 
and  art  from  France,  and  what  would  become  of  her  commerce  ? 

Every  branch  of  design,  but  more  especially  mural  decoration,  has  a  decided 
influence  upon  the  manufactures  of  a  country.  It  is  natural  to  admire  and  study 
what  is  before  and  around  us,  and  good  taste,  as  well  as  sound  judgment,  is 
thus  unconsciously  promoted. 


THE  NEW  CRYSTAL  PALACE. 

IT  has  always  been  a  subject  of  deep  regret  with  all  who  saw  the  London  Crys- 
tal Palace  that  it  should  have  vanished  like  a  beautiful  dream,  almost  before 
their  eyes.  It  is  known  to  all  that  the  fairy-like  structure  of  Hyde  Park  has 
been  removed,  that  the  ground  which  it  covered  is  again  *a  verdant  sward,  and 
that  no  trace  remains  to  remind  the  inhabitants  of  Eotten  Row  that  the  most 
wonderful  structure  of  modern  times  once  stood  upon  their  inclosure.  It  may 
not,  however,  be  so  generally  kjiown — and  certainly  not  in  the  United  States — that 
the  removal  of  the  Crystal  Palace  from  Hyde  Park  has  been  only  the  prelude  to 
its  erection  in  a  new  and  more  beautiful  form  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  London. 
Many  persons  have  affected  to  sneer  at  the  Exhibition  of  1851  as  an  ephemeral  show, 
which  made  no  more  impression  on  the  world's  industry,  than  the^assing  shadow 
upon  the  landscape.  We  do  not  envy  such  people  either,  their  logic  or  their  per- 
ceptions, nor  do  we  propose  to  waste  words  upon  them.  It  is  sufficient  to  say 
that  they  forget,  that  as  shadows  cannot  nowadays  expect  to  escape  if  they  fall 
upon  the  sensitive  surface  of  a  photographic  paper  or  of  a  daguerreian  plate,  so 
the  public  mind  by  its  peculiar  preparation  for  the  scene  in  question,  received 
from  the  brief  exhibition  of  1851,  an  enduring  impression,  a  daguerreotyping  of 
new  ideas — the  leaven  of  whose  vitality  will  continue  to  work  long  after  the 
heads  that  planned  and  the  hands  that  realized  them,  have  ceased  to  be. 

One  of  the  great  lessons  taught  on  that  occasion,  was  the  capacity  of  the 
masses  to  appreciate  and  enjoy  the  pleasures  which  flow  from  refined  culture  in 
whatever  direction.  This  lesson  was  so  palpably  plain,  that  a  company  of  enter- 
prising and  most  intelligent  gentlemen  was  formed  in  London,  who  purchased  the 
Hyde  Park  building  of  the  Commissioners,  with  a  view  to  erecting  it  in  a  new 
and  more  favorable  situation.  This  they  ha^e  accomplished  by  securing  a  tract 
of  ground,  of  over  three  hundred  acres,  in  an  inclosure  known  formerly  as  Penge 
Park,  near  Sydenham,  in  the  county  of  Kent,  about  ^x  miles  from  London. 
This  company  possesses  a  paid  up  capital  of  nearly  four  millions  of  dollars 
(£800,000),  and  the  real  estate  on  which  the  building  is  now  re-erected,  cost 
more  money  than  the  whole  structure  as  it  stood  in  London.  Although  the  estab- 
lishment is  as  yet  «ly  in  embryofit  already  gives  promise  of  a  new  species  of  enjoy- 
ment, refined  and  elevating  in  its  character.  There  on  the  brow  and  summit  of  a 
lull,  which  commands  a  panoramic  view  of  surprising  extent  and  loveliness,  the 
New  Crystal  Palace  is  rising  in  loftier  and  more  beautiful  proportions  thajj  before. 
With  its  magnificent  surroundings,  and  the  treasures  of  Art  and  Nature  contained 


within  its  transparent  walls,  it  will  be  worthy  to  represent  to  present  and  to  com- 
ing time,  the  wealth  of  that  nation,  and  that  vast  and  imperial  sway,  which 
Daniel  Webster  once  thought  a  corresponding  magnificence  of  language  fitting  to 
describe.  The  arch  of  the  central  transept  is  now  two  hundred  and  ten  feet  from 
the  ground,  and  a  transept  of  proportionate  dimensions  is  erected  at  each  end. 
By  these  changes  the  interior  capacity  of  the  building  has  been  materially  increased, 
although  the  length  has  been  diminished  in  consequence  of  them  from  1,848  to 
about  1,500  feet.  In  place  of  the  flat,  ridge-and-furrow  roof,  which  covered  and 
disfigured  the  nave  in  the  original  building,  a  curved  roof  of  glass  has  been  sub- 
stituted— whose  light  and  graceful  arches  blend  harmoniously  with  the  aerial 
effect  of  the  great  transepts. 

Sir  Joseph  Paxton  is  fully  empowered  to  convert  the  surrounding  grounds 
into  an  Eden  of  rural  delights.  The  form  and  situation  of  the  property  are  admira- 
bly suited  to  the  highest  triumphs  of  landscape  gardening.  The  sloping  hill-side 
attains  an  altitude  so  commanding,  that  a  panoramic  view  is  obtained  on  all 
sides.  The  parks  and  fresh  fields  of  the  luxurious  vale  of  Kent  in  the  foreground, 
and  London  and  the  misty  hills  beyond,  open  like  a  map  beneath  the  spectator. 
Here  the  weary  artisan,  the  pleasure-seeking,  or  the  toil-worn  citizen  may  share  in 
all  the  newness  and  joy  of  the  country,  within  sight  of  the  mighty  capitol, — the 
.great  throbbing  heart  of  Christendom, — whose  cloud  of  murky  smoke  which  ever- 
lastingly hangs  over  it,  speaks  of  wealth  and  power  derived  from  a  thousand 
work-shops  of  industry.  For  eighteen  pence  (about  35  cents),  visitors  are  taken 
up  and  back  to  London,  the  visit  to  the  Crystal  Palace  and  its  grounds  being 
included.  That  is  to  say,  a  ride  of  twelve  miles,  and  an  enjoyment  ad  libitum 
in  all  the  pleasures  of  the  phice,  may  be  had  for  a  little  less  than  the  sum  else- 
where paid  in  England,  for  twelve  miles  of  railway  travelling  alone. 

The  gentlemen  who  have  formed  this  gigantic  scheme  to  gratify  and  instruct 
the  public,  have  done  well  to  remember  that  its  success  depends  upon  its 
being  perfectly  accomplished,  and  that  a  restriction  of  expenditure  which  should 
mar  any  of  its  attractive  features,  would  make  the  whole  a  magnificent  failure  in 
place  of  a  triumphant  success.  Thus  a  million  of  dollars  are  devoted  to  the  hy- 
draulic arrangements  alone.  Water  is  pumped  by  very  powerful  steam  engines 
to  supply  fountains  and  jets  d'eau  of  every  variety  and  of  surprising  height,  while 
cascades  and  lakes  and  streams  are  all  created  by  the  same  illimitable  power. 
Statues,  temples  of  roses,  and  architectural  decorations  lend  their  power  to 
embellish  the  rural  attractions.  The  arrangement  of  the  plants  and  trees,  and  floral 
decorations  of  the  grounds,  is  made  with  reference  to  their  geographical  distribu- 
tion and  character,  as  well  as  their  beauty  and  picturesque  effect.  '.The  principle 
everywhere  prevails  of  uniting  pleasure  with  instruction. 

Within  the  building  there  will  be  an  epitome  of  the  great  world  without. 
The  visitor  in  wandering  down  the  nave,  will  pass  in  succession  the  characteristic 
vegetation  of  every  zone,  represented  by  the  choicest  and  most  perfect  specimens 
of  its  living  plants  and  trees ;  for  under  the  lofty  vaults  of  this  new  structure,  the 
most  ambitious  palm-trees  may  rear  their  tufted  heads.  The  immense  collection 
of  exotics  formed  during  th£  last  fifty  years  by  the  Messrs.  Loddiges,  near  London, 
has  been  purchased  for  the  sum  of  twenty*five  thousand  pounds,  to  adorn  the 
establishment 'at  Sydenham.  These  are  disposed  in  the  main  entrance,  hall,  and 
porticoes,  and  are  interspersed  with  statues  and  fountains,  and  at  intervals,  with 
aviaries  of  birds  remarkable  for  their  brilliant  plumage  or  exquisite  song. 

As  the  great  original  works  of  art  can  be  seen  only  by  a  long  and  careful 
study  of  numerous  museums  scattered' over  the  whole  of  Europe,  and  the  wonders 
of  ancient  architecture  only  by  still  more  laborious  and  costly  explorations  of 
countries  now  not  always  civilized  or  easily  accessible ;  it  is  plain  that  such 
pleasures  must  be  restricted  to  the  few,  who  may  possess  the  wealth  and  leisure 
required  for  such  undertakings.  It  has  therefore  been  the  design  to  group  toge- 
ther at  Sydenham  models — copies  of  exact  size  and  color— of  all  the  most  noted 
statues  and  groups  which  have  come  down  to  us  from  ancient  Greece  and  Rome. 
For  this  purpose  alone  some  sixty  thousand  pounds  sterling  have  been  applied, — and 
many  unique  pieces  ofsculpture  have  been  thus  reproduced  for  the  first  time.  As,  for 
example,  the  renowned  equestrian  statue  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  at  Rome,  upon  the 
Capitoline  Hill,  which  w.as  never  suffered  to  be  modelled  before.  Numerous  similar 
objects  have  been  procured  from  the  Museo  Borbonico  at  Naples,  and  from  other 
museums. 

The  arrangements  to  exhibit  ancient  and  foreign  architecture,  decorative  arts 
and  manners,  both  public  and  domestic,  are  upon  a  scalo  of  corresponding  com- 
pleteness. Across  the  grand  entrance  transept,  four  largo  and  distinct  courts  are 
provided, — "one  devoted  to  the  exhibition  of  ihe  Italian  and  revived  classical 
styles  of  art  in  various  branches;  another  to  the  Elizabethan,  French;  and  Flem- 
ish renaissance;  a  third  to  the  Mediaeval  style,  from  its  cloisters  and  tombs  to  its 
ivorjes  and  enamels;  and  a  fourth  to  the  Byzantine,  Romanesque  and  Norman 
works  of  Decorative  Art.  On  the  opposite  side  the  visitor  will  wander  through 
an  Egyptian  Ball,  with  its  multiplicity  of  columns  all  richly  painted  with  deities 
and  hieroglyphics,  and  pass  into  side  courts  constructed  under  the  direction  of  Mr. 
I.avard,  after  the  fashion  of  the  palaces  of  Nineveh  and  Persepolis.  From  thence  he 
finds  his  way  into  the  less  gorgeous,  but  more  exquisite  halls  of  Greoce,  where 
vases  of  the  finest  contour,  statues  of  faultless  proportions,  and  models  of  the  most 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


19 


beautiful  public  Jhonuments  of  this  most  polished  nation  of  the  ancient  world 
will  court  his  study.  Thence  the  Roman  Court  is  reached,  filled  with  specimens 
of  the  arts  of  those  old  masters  of  the  world ;  less  pure  than  Greece  in  their  tastes, 
but  perhaps  more  real."  A  Roman  house,  copied  in  all  its  details  from  Pompeii, 
and  of  actual  size,  about  two  hundred  feet  front,  will  convey  a  vivid  impression 
of  the  interior  life  of  a  wealthy  Roman,  at  the  commencement  of  the  Christian 
era.  Adjoining  this,  Owen  Jones  lias  reconstructed  the  famous  Hall  of  Lions  of 
the  Alhambra.  Here,  then,  for  the  first  time  will  it  be  possible  to  contrast,  by 
actual  examples  of  each,  the  characteristic  styles  of  all  ages  aud  countries. 

The  various  raw  materials,  gathered  from  the  surface,  or  torn  from  the  bosom 
of  our  planet,  the  products  of  primeval  creation,  or  of  annual  growth,  are  ar- 
ranged under  the  supervision  of  Prof.  John  Wilson,  (one  of  the  British  commis- 
sioners to  the  American  Exhibition.)  The  elements  of  civilisation  will  be  dis- 
played in  such  a  manner  as  to  show  the  various  stages,  and  as  far  as  practicable,  the 
various  processes  of  their  manufacture  under  chemical  or  mechanical  treatment,  by 
which  science  combines  theiu  to  minister  to  the  comfort  of  life  and  the  grandeur 
of  nations.  Models  of  mines,  and  of  mining  machinery — maps,  plans,  and  sections 
of  works,  will  be  fully  supplied. 

In  Geology,  under  the  direction  of  Prof.  Ansted,  the  structure  of  the  earth,  and 
of  its  various  tribes  of  extinct  animals  and  plants,  will  be  represented  in  a  style 
and  with  a  completeness  never  before  attempted.  For  instance,  the  monsters 
which  inhabited  our  planet  at  epochs  infinitely  remote,  and  whose  forms 
it  is  the  glory  of  the  distinguished  palaeontologists,  Cuvier,  and  Mantel], 
and  Owen,  to  have  built  up  by  induction  from  fragmentary,  and  often  a  soli- 
tary relic  of  them, — these  tyrants  of  the  Age  of  Reptiles,  will  be  exhibited  in 
lifelike  and  colossal  reality.  In  the  lake  there  will  be  two  islands,  of  which  one 
will  represent  the  tertiary,  and  the  other  the  secondary  epoch,  and  each  reptile 
will  stretch  or  coil  his  huge  length  on  the  rock,  wealden,  or  chalk,  or  lias,  which 
was  characteristic  of  the  time  of  his  existence.  Here  the  astounded  student  will 
see  Ichthyosauri  and  Plesiosauri,  and  all  other  saurians  of  whatever  imaginable 
name,  or  shape,  or  size,  as  they  looked  while  they  were  still  gambolling  in  the 
flesh,  in  the  morning  of  that  antique  world,  from  whose  ruins  we  dig  their  bones. 
They  are  not  the  only  inhabitants  of  these  novel  islands.  Beneath  the  appropriate 
vegetation,  mostly  coniferous  trees,  may  be  seen  the  Labyrinthodon,  a  frog  twelve 
feet  long ;  the  Megatherium,  a  huge  sloth  fifteen  feet  high  ;  Dr.  Mantell's  gigantic 
Iguanodon;  and  lastly,  that  monument  of  Prof.  Owen's  anatomical  skill,  the 
Dinornis,  a  bird  twenty  feet  high,  or  thereabouts,  a  sort  of  antediluvian  ostrich. 

The  department  of  Zoology  is  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Edward  Forbes,  and 
Messrs.  Gould  and  Waterhouse.  It  is  not  their  intention  to  repeat  the  ridiculous 
caricatures  of  the  animal  kingdom  so  common  in  ordinary  museums.  Both  the 
living  and  the  stuffed  examples  in  their  charge  will  be  distributed  geographically, 
and  surrounded  witli  the  plants  and  other  accompaniments  peculiar  to  their  native 
haunts,  whether  in  caves,  or  in  jungles,  or  forests.  In  pursuance  of  this  ad- 
mirable scheme,  aquatic  vivaria,  huge  tanks  of  fresh  and  sea  water  are  provided, 
in  which  fish  that  once  "  through  groves  of  coral  strayed,"  or  in  osier-fringed 
streams,  will  again,  under  the  delighted  eye  of  the  spectator, 

,  "Show  to  the  sun  their  wav'd  coats  dropt  with  gold." 

And  witli  them,  mollusks  and  crustaceans,  polypi  and  corallines,  and  all  the  off- 
spring of  the  sea,  will  display  to  the  public  gaze  their  infinite  variety  of  curious 
forms  and  brilliant  colors,  hitherto  unseen  in  their  living  beauty,  save  by  the  pa- 
tient naturalist  in  remote  islands  and  on  solitary  shores. 

Dr.  Latham,  well  known  in  the  United  States  for  his  thorough  scholarship  and 
excellent  philological  writings,»is  the  director  of  the  department  of  Ethnology. 
Like  Prichard,  he  prefers  to  make  moral  and  mental  peculiarities  the  basis  of  his 
study  and  division  of  mankind.  Whatever  we  may  think  of  this,  it  is  impossible 
not  to  admire  the  energy  with  which  he  addresses  himself  to  the  task  of  forming 
a  museum.  Whatever  can  illustrate  the  different  types  and  varieties  of  mankind, 
whatever  can  throw  light  upon  their  moral,  mental,  or  physical  characteristics,  is  a 
tonne  louche  to  Dr.  Latham.  Trinkets,  weapons,  and  utensils,  specimens  of  cloth- 
ing, of  language  and  traditions,  specimens  of  hair,  skulls,  and  plaster-casts,  are 
gathered  and  arranged  with  vivacious  zeal.  Foreigners,  of  either  sex,  coming  to 
London  from  beyond  the  sea,  are  coaxed  or  bribed,  to  submit  themselves  ait  naturel 
to  Dr.  Latham,  who  forthwith  models  them  at  full  length  in  plaster. 

The  upper  galleries  will  be  entirely  devoted  to  the  exhibition  of  the  Industrial 
Arts.  These,  overlooking  the  transept,  will  be  apportioned  to  works  in  the 
precious  metals,  china,  porcelain,  and  glass.  Cloths,  furs,  leather,  &c — will  find 
their  places  in  the  northern  galleries ;  substances,  used  as  food,  in  those  opposite. 
Philosophical  and  musical  instruments,  and  all  miscellaneous  manufactured  articles, 
have  also  their  localities.  • 

We  hane  dwelt  somewhat  particularly  on  this  subject,  drawing  our  informa- 
tion from  the  Art  Journal,  and  from  private  sources,  partly  for  the  sake  of  an- 
swering in  some  sense  the  inquiries  of  those  who  are  more  fond  of  asking,  what 
good  comes  of  such  exhibitions — than  of  appreciating  what  is  so  plain  to  others — 
and  partly  for  the  suggestions  which  so  naturally  flow  from  it  as  to  the  future  of 
our  own  enterprise.    Speaking  of  this  new  phase  of  the  London  building,  Mr. 


Hall  says — "  It  was  fitting  that  so  vast  and  interminable  a  city  should  have  its 
palace  for  the  people,  great  as  itself,  and  like  itself,  an  epitome  of  the  world;  that 
its  structure  should  be  novel,  and  not  hacKneyed ;  that  its  contents  should  rank 
higher  than  the  amusing,  and  should  reach  such  a  pitch  of  excellence,  that  instruc- 
tion and  knowledge  of  the  most  refined  kind  should  be  conveyed  through  the  me- 
dium of  the  eye  to  all  visitors ;  in  a  word,  that  the  eye  of  the  sight-seer  should  never 
weary  of  looking,  while  the  mind  should  almost  unconsciously  imbibe  knowledge, 
and  that  of  a  kind  fully  equal  to  the  standard  of  modern  excellence.    Here  many 

"long  in  populous  city  pent," 
will  recreate  themselves  in  body  and  mind  as  effectually  as  a  nobleman  used  to  do 
by  any  European  tour.    Nay  more ;  for  here  -\jill  the  wonders  of  the  Old  and  the 
New  Worlds  unite  to  show  twice  their  beauties.    Nature  woos  him  in  the  gardens, 
and  Art  within  the  walls  of  this  Temple  of  Fame." 

•We  seem  to  see,  in  the  plan  of  the  new  Crystal  Palace,  and  in  the  grand  ideas 
embodied  in  its  arrangement,  the  germ  of  something  likely  to  bud  and  bear 
fruit  in  the  United  States.  We  would  add,  before  closing,  that  the  funds  accumu- 
lated as  the  net  profit*  of  the  Exhibition  of  1851,  which  amount  to  £170,000,  are 
about  to  be  invested  in  the  establishment  of  an  Industrial  College,  for  the  benefit 
of  all  who  may  choose  to  become  its  pupils.  We  soon  expect  to  receive  a  copy 
of  the  report  upon  this  subject,  prepared  by  Dr.  Lyon  Pi.ayfair,  who  has  visited, 
in  its  preparation,  all  the  establishments  of  a  like  character  on  the  continent.  Dr. 
Playfair's  appointment  by  the  Crown  to  the  office  of  Royal  Commissioner  for 
science  is  one  of  the  fruits  of  the  Exhibition  of  1851.  This  is  the  first  official 
recognition  of  the  claims  of  science  on  the  part  of  the  Government  of  England — 
the  incumbent  of  this  office  taking  rank  with  the  other  high  officers  of.  State. 
When  the  report  alluded  to  reaches  us,  we  shall  take  care  to  lay  its  main  features 
before  the  readers  of  the  Record. 


BIRAM'S  ANEMOMETER. 


THE  instrument  figured  below,  is  designed  for  the  purpose  of  registering  the 
current  of  air  in  mines.  The  importance  of  having  some  ready  method  of 1 
measuring  and  registering  the  quantity  of  air  circulating  through  the  galleries  and 
shafts  of  coal  mines,  is  fully  admitted  by  coal-viewers.  In  the  recent  report  of  the 
committee  appointed  by  the  British  House  of  Commons,  for  inquiring  into  the 
causes  of  accidents  in  coal  mines — the  adoption  of  some  mode  of  measurement  and 
registry,  is  strongly  recommended.  In  the  United  States,  the  same  degree  of 
necessity  for  such  precautions  has  not  yet  been  reached,  partly  because  our  mines 
of  bituminous  coals  are  as  yet  comparatively  shallow,  and  more  because  anthracitic 
coals  (which  are  more, extensively  wrought  in  Pennsylvania  than  the  bitumin- 
ous) yield  comparatively  little  of  the  combustible  gases  so  abundantly  exhaled 
from  the  bituminous  coals.  In  order  to  displace  by  fresh  air  these  poisonous  gases, 
as  also  the  smoke  of  gunpowder,  of  lamps,  and  the  products  of  respiration,  it  is  re- 
quisite to  build  a  fire  in  one  of  the  shafts  of  the  mine,  and  to  keep  it  up  at  all  times; 
the  air  passages  of  the  mine  being  so  arranged  with  doors  and  openings,  that  the 
draught  of  the  furnace  shall  cause  a  movement  of  the  stagnant  air  in  the  galleries. 

Biram's  Anemometer  is  designed  to  register  these  movements  of  the  air, 
which  it  does  by  a 
combination  of  wheels 
with  indices,  similar  to 
a  gas  meter.  It  is  only 
twelve  inches  in  diame- 
ter, and  weighs  about 
2^  lbs.  Any  slacken- 
ing of  the  furnace  or 
inattention  in  the  fur- 
nace man,  will  be  at 
once  detected  by  the 
registry  of  this  simple 
apparatus.  The  observ- 
er has  only  to  record 
the  position  of  the  sev-  • 
eral  indices  at  the  first 
observation,  and  deduct 
the  amount  from  their 
position  at  the  second 
observation,  to  ascertain 
the  velocity  of  the  air 
which  has  passed  during 
the  interval ;  this  mul- 
tiplied into  the  area  in 
feet  of  the  passage 
where  the  instrument  is  placed,  will  show  the  number  of  cubic  feet  which  have 
passed  during  the  same  period. 


20 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


Within  a  few  years  articles  in  terra-cotta  have  come 
into  extensive  use  for  architectural  and  other  ornaments, 
and  this  brunch  of  art-manufacture  has  been  carried  to 


'  '  •  iiiid 

great  excellence  and  beauty.  The  materials  used  are  the 
finest  clays,  free  from  oxyd  of  iron,  which  are  mixed 
with  calcined  flints  and  crushed  pottery,  and  baked  at  a 


temperature  but  little  below  fusion.  Modern  terra- 
cottas are  quite  different  from  the  articles  known  among 
the  ancients  under  that  name,  and  are  much  more  dura- 


ble. The  beautiful  examples  engraved  upon  this  page 
are  exhibited  by  Henry  Doulton  &  Co.,  of  Lambeth. 
They  consist  of  an  ivy-wreathed  Vase,  a  Vink  Basket, 


a  Water  Cooler,  with  decorations  in  the-  medieval 
style,  and  a  group  of  Grecian  and  Gothic  vases  for 
a  terrace  or  conservatory.     The  models  are  graceful, 


and  the  ornaments  are  applied  willi   excellent  taste 

and  effect. 

In  an  industrial  point  of  view,  the  Staffordshire  pot- 


teries are  one  of  the  most  interesting  localities  in  Eng- 
land. From  thence  come  the  fine  porcelain  services, 
which  at  the  tables  of  the  noble  and  wealthy  are  ad- 


mired as  triumphs  of  artistic  and  manufacturing  skill, 
and  the  coarser  varieties  of  earthenware  for  everyday 
use,  which  are  produced  by  hundreds  of  thousands,  and 


may  be  found  in  every  cottage  the  world  over.  The  I  Service,  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Ridgway  &  Co.,  one  of  the 
group  at  the  top  of  the  page  is  an  elegant  porcelain  Tea  |  largest  of  the  Staffordshire  manufacturers. 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


We  engra*  e  upon  this  page  two  stained  cuss  win- 


dows, which  are  creditable  specimens  of  this  beautiful  art. 


They  are  contributed  by  Mr.  Holland,  of  St.  Johns 


Warwick.  The  one  on  the  left  is  eight  feet  and  nine  inches 
in  height,  by  two  feet  and  two  inches  wide.  It  repre- 
sents St.  John  holding  in  one  hand  the  emblematic  cup, 
and  standing  beneath  a  perpendicular  canopy.  The  other 
is  on  a  somewhat  larger  scale,  being  ten  feet  in  height, 
and  three  feet  two  inches  wide.  The  design  of  this 
presents  Christ,  holding  the  symbols  of  universal  em 


pire,  and  surrounded  with  the  twelve  Apostles,  whose 
figures  are  placed  in  the  shafts  of  the  canopy. 

The  Terra  Cottas  on  this  page  are  contributed  by 
Messrs.  Tolman,  Hathaway  &  Stone,  of  Worcester, 
Mass.  They  consist  of  a  Corinthian  Capital  and  Modil- 
lion,  and  a  Gothic  Pinnacle.  The  manufacture  of  Terra 
Cotta  is  yet  in  its  infancy  in  this  country,  and  the  ex- 
amples, though  creditable  to  the  enterprise  of  those  who 
21 


have  commenced  this  business,  cannot  be  compared  with 


the  artistic  works  in  this  material  found  in  other  quar- 


ters of  the  Exhibition,  especially  the  Italian. 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


We  have  elsewhere  alluded  to  the  extent  and  import- 
ance of  the  Staffordshire  potteries,  among  whose  pro- 
ductions, those  of  Messrs.  J.  Ridowav  &  Co.,  have  a  high 
rank  for  their  beauty  and  general  excellence.  From  the 
numerous  contributions  of  this  firm,  we  engrave  upon 


this  page  a  Porcelain  Fountain,  whose  elegance  will  at 
onco  commend  it  to  the  reader.  The  ground  color  is  an 
orange  red,  bearing  white  rosettes,  while  the  remaining 
decorations  are  gilt.    Its  height  is  about  four  feet. 

The  Shakespeare  Cup,  executed  in  gold,  is  the  produc- 


tion of  Mr.  Thomas  Sharp,  London,  by  whom  the  same 
design  in  silver  was  exhibited  in  the  Palace  of  Hyde 
Park.  The  cover  of  this  beautiful  work  is  surmounted 
by  a  figure  of  the  immortal  poet,  and  scenes  from  his 
plays  decorate  the  sides.    The  subjects  are  from  Lear, 


SIP 


Julius  Cassar,  The  Tempest,  Othello,  Hamlet,  and  Mac- 
beth. In  the  divisions  on  the  foot  are  emblems  which 
refer  to  the  groups  above. 


The  group,  representing  part  of  a  Porcelain  Service, 
is  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Sampson,  Bridgwood  &  Sons. 
The  articles  of  this  service,  both  in  their  contour  and 


the  simplicity  of  their  decoration,  are  examples  of  good 
taste  and  refinement. 

An  exquisite  specimen  of  the  goldsmith's  art  is  seen 


in  a  Casket,  exhibited  by  Mr.  Joseph  Angell,  of  London.  I  The  design  represents  Anthony  and  Cleopatra,  and  in  I  matic  of  love  and  war.  The  casket  is  seven  inches  by 
It  is  executed  in  raised  silver,  with  the  medallions  gilt.  |  harmony  with  such  a  subject,  figures  are  added  emble-  |  five,  and  seven  high. 

22 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


The  silver  Centre  Dish  here  engraved,  is  exhibited 
by  Mr.  Joseph  Angell,  Strand,  London,  manufacturer 
and  designer  of  silver  ware.     It  is  executed  in  solid 


In  bookbinding,  the  true  purpose  of  the  art — to  pro- 
tect the  volume  within  it — is  so  often  overlooked,  or 
rather,  so  systematically  neglected  and  set  at  defiance, 
that  we  are  glad  to  illustrate  a  contrary  instance  which 
has  our  entire  approval.  This  notable  exception  to  the 
general  rule  is  exhibited  by  Mathews  ik  Rider,  of  New- 
York.  It  will  attract  attention  and  praise,  but  whe- 
ther so  much  as  it  deserves  is  doubtfuL  For  there 
is  no  glare  or  tinsel  about  it,  no  uncomfortably  red 
sheepskin  morocco,  with  gaudy  bronze  gilding,  the 
baser  metal  outfacing  genuine  gold;  no  deceptive  stamp- 
ed-woi  k,  whose  endless  repetitions  of  even  a  pretty  pat- 
tern become  wearisome,  and  can  never  hope  to  rival  the 
exquisite  finish  of  an  accomplished  workman.  It  has 
none  of  these  popular  passports  to  favor,  but  is  a  solid, 
substantial,  and  honest  piece  of  work  throughout,  exe- 
cuted at  an  expense  of  time  and  labor,  which  the  most 
of  our  readers  would  think  fabulous,  and  therefore  we 
shall  say  nothing  about  it.  The  design  is  beautiful,  ap- 
propriate and  rich — as  it  is  befitting  that  the  cover  of 


silver  and  heavily  gilt, 
found  on  another  page. 


The  companion  piece  will  be 


The  Chandelier,  profusely  furnished  with  prismatic 
glass  pendants,  is  contributed  by  Hi.  J.  T.  Hall,  England. 


Owen  Jones's  Illustrations  of  the  Alhambra  should  be — 
and  withal  as  modest  as  rich.    This  example  will  show 


that  the  art  of  bookbinding  is  not  unknown,  though,  we 
confess,  not  often  practised  among  us. 


1 

■lllllll 

THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


Thokwaldsen's  Christ  and  his  Apostles  is  the  subject 
to  which  we  consecrate  this  page.  This  group  is  ex- 
hibited by  its  proprietor,  Edward  Bech,  Esq.,  Danish 
Consul  for  New- York,  and  has  been  arranged  under  the 
special  superintendence  of  Messrs.  Carstenben  &  Gilder- 
meister,  the  Architects  of  the  Crystal  Palace,  and  J.  T. 
Elnnewekr,  artist  of  Thorwaldsen's  Museum,  Copen- 
hagen. The  statues  now  exhibited  are  Thorwaldsen's 
originals,  once  standing  in  the  Metropolitan  Church  in 
Copenhagen,  where  they  were  replaced  by  marble.  In  the 
Metropolitan  Church  they  are  so  placed  that  the  figure  of 
Christ  stands  about  fifty  feet  distant  from  the  Apostles, 
and  elevated  three  or  four  feet  above  the  altar.  This 
arrangement  was  impossible  in  the  contracted  space  as- 
signed to  the  group  in  the  American  Exhibition,  and 
hence  the  Christ  appears  unduly  gigantic,  when  brought 
into  the  same  circle  with  the  statues  of  the  Apostles.  The 
grouping  in  our  engraving  differs  from  the  actual  ar- 
rangement, and  has  been  devised  by  the  designer  to 
bring  all  the  figures  of  thi8  august  assembly  within  the 
limits  of  the  page,  while  the  size  of  the  Christ  has  been 
purposely  reduced  to  conform  to  the  original  intention  of 
the  artist.  It  is  impossible  by  any  engraving,  unless  it 
be  on  a  very  large  scale,  to  convey  any  proper  notion 
of  the  impression  made  by  this  wonderful  group  upon 
the  spectator.  Christian  art  has  reached,  in  this  immor- 
tal work  of  Thorwaldsen,  its  noblest  expression.  It  is  un- 
doubtedly the  great  artistic  feature  of  the  Exhibition,  a 
subject  of  universal  and  eternal  interest,  touching  the 
springs  of  deepest  feeling  in  the  human  heart.  Ancient  Art, 
while  it  has  left  us  nothing  nobler  in  execution,  never 
handled  so  sublime  a  theme.  We  proeeed  to  enumerate  the 
figures  as  they  stand  in  the  exhibition,  as  the  characteristic 
marks  of  each  will  enable  the  reader  at  once  to  recog- 
nize the  corresponding  figure  in  our  engraving. 


Christ,  the  arisen  Saviour,  appears  in  the  midst  of 
his  assembled  Apostles,  greeting  them  with  the  words, 
"  Peace  be  unto  you."  The  expression  of  the  whole 
figure  is  exactly  such  as  meets  the  most  lofty  conception 
of  his  appearance  before  his  "  terrified  and  affrighted  " 
disciples,  when  he  said  unto  them,  "  Why  are  ye  troubled, 
and  why  do  thoughts  arise  in  your  hearts?"  In  the 
beautiful  countenance  the  artist  has  reproduced  in  their 
best  form  those  features  which  Christian  art  has  handed 
down  from  generation  to  generation  as  peculiar  to  Christ. 
The  hair  is  parted  on  the  middle  of  the  head,  and  flows 
curling  in  rich  abundance  over  his  shoulders.  The  breast, 
the  partly  elevated  hands,  and  the  feet  show  the  seal's 
of  the  lance,  and  the  laceration  of  the  nails,  convincing 
even  the  incredulous  Thomas  that  it  was,  indeed,  his 
Lord. 

Paul,  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  (1st  statue  on  the 
right  of  Christ),  holds  a  sword  as  the  symbol  of  his 
martyrdom,  while,  with  his  right  hand  raised  to  heaven, 
he  appears  to  exhort  his  companions  to  new  faith  in  their 
Master's  service.  His  countenance  bears  the  expression 
of  that  deep  thought  which  distinguished  him  as  the 
most  learned  among  the  "glorious  company  of  the  Apos- 
tles."   This  Apostle  is  substituted  for  Judas. 

Peter,  the  first  statue  on  the  left  of  Christ,  holds  in 
his  hand  the  keys  of  power. 

Simon  Zelotes  (2d  statue  on  the  right),  holds  in  his 
right  hand  the  saw,  in  testimony  of  the  mode  of  his 
martyrdom  ;  the  left  hand  resting  on  the  right  wrist. 

Matthew  (2d  statue  on  the  left),  the  publican,  with 
the  emblematic  money-bag  at  his  feet,  holds  a  tablet  in 
his  hand,  and  appears  lost  in  meditation  upon  the  great 
theme  which,  in  his  office  of  Evangelist,  he  is  about  to 
commit  to  record.  An  angel,  emblem  of  his  evangelical 
mission,  kneels  at  his  side. 

24 


Bartholomew  (3d  statue  on  the  right),  holds  in  his  right 
hand  the  knife,  emblematic  of  his  death,  inflicted  according 
to  tradition  by  the  orders  of  Astyages,  the  Armenian 
King. 

John  (3d  statue  on  the  left),  raises  his  face  in  adora- 
tion, full  of  that  sweetness  of  expression  which  we  ever 
associate  with  "the  beloved  disciple."  By  his  left  side  is 
seated  an  eagle,  the  emblem  of  his  angelic  mission. 

James  (4th  statue  on  the  right),  the  brother  of  John, 
is  about  to  set  out  on  his  apostolic  journey.  He  carries 
the  pilgrim's  staff  on  his  right-hand,  and  on  his  back  the 
broad-brimmed  hat  of  the  Palmer. 

James,  son  of  Alfheus  (4th  statue  to  the  left),  sup- 
ports his  left-hand  on  a  staff.  The  right-hand  rests  on 
the  left  arm.  Beneath  his  flowing  locks  is  seen  the 
mild  countenance,  bearing  that  resemblance  which  this 
Apostle  is  said  to  have  had  to  his  divine  Master 

Thomas  (5th  statue  to  the  right),  holds  in  his  left 
hand  the  square,  as  a  symbol  of  his  doubting  mind. 
His  right  hand  supports  his  head. 

Philip  (5th  statue  on  the  left).  This  aged  Apostle, 
borne  down  with  cares  and  years,  carries  in  his  right- 
hand  a  cross  of  cane. 

Andrew  (6th  statue  to  the  right),  holds  in  his  left 
hand  a  scroll  of  parchment,  bearing  on  his  right  arm  the 
cross  of  his  martyrdom.    Lastly — 

Thaddeus  (6th  statue  to  the  left),  joins  his  hands  in  ador- 
ation. His  left  arm  supports  the  executioner's  axe,  by  which 
he  bore  testimony  to  his  Lord  in  the  death  of  a  martyr. 

Of  the  Apostles,  those  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  were 
alone  entirely  modelled  by  Thorwaldsen  himself.  The 
Christ  and  all  the  others  were  modelled  from  Thorwald- 
sen's sketches  by  his  pupils,  and  only  finished  by  himself. 

The  St.  James  was,  of  all  the  group,  the  great  Sculp- 
tor's favorite. 


THE    NEW-YOKK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


The  open  space  beneath  the  dome  of  the  Crystal 
Palace  is  occupied,  in  the  centre,  by  an  equestrian 
statue  of  Washington,  by  Baron  Marochetti,  of  pied- 
mont, but  now,  we  believe,  resident  in  London.  It 
is  a  model  in  plaster  of  colossal  size,  and  proposed  to  be 
executed  in  bronze.  Baron  Marochetti  has  designed 
other  equestrian  and  colossal  statues ;  one  of  the  Duke 


of  Orleans,  which  formerly  stood  in  the  square  of  the 
Louvre,  and  another  of  Richard  the  L'°n-hearted  king 
of  England,  which  was  exhibited  at  the  Worlds  Fair, 
and  was  honored  with  a  Council  Medal. 

The  Washington  has  received  the  place  of  honor  in 
our  Crystal  Palace,  in  deference,  we  believe,  to  the  ad- 


25 


miration  universally  enterta.ned  for  the  character  of 
our  most  illustrious  countryman,  and  out  of  respect  o 
the  love  for  him  which  every  American  mstinctn  ely 
cherishes.  As  a  work  of  Art  it  has  not  met  the  appr* 
elation  gratifying  to  an  artist.  Our  own  opinion  and 
criticism  we  defer  to  another  occasion. 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


In  the  manufacture  of  textile  fabrics  of 
every  description,  there  is  a  wide  field  for  the 
exercise  of  taste  in  the  application  of  orna- 
mental designs.  The  beauty  and  richness  of  a 
fine  fabric  receive  a  double  charm  from  the  ex- 
cellence of  the  design  that  adorns  them,  while 
a  bad  or  inferior  one  detracts  from  whatever 


good  qualities  may  belong  to  the  manufacture 
itself.  In  employment  of  the  floral  ornaments 
especially,  it  is  a  serious  and  common  fault  to  aim 
at  reproducing  the  flowers  naturally,  to  repre- 
sent perfect  fac-similies  of  them,  in  a  strong  and 
vivid  coloring.  Nothing  can  be  more  erro- 
neous, and  essentially  vulgar,  as  would  be  evi- 


I 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


We  give  an  engraving  in  outline  of  The  Dancing 
Girl  Reposing,  by  W.  C.  Marshall,  A.  R.  A.  The  sta- 
tue was  executed  in  marble  for  the  Art-Union  of  London, 
reproduced  in  statuary  porcelain,  and  issued  as  prizes  to 


It  is  seldom  that  we  meet  with  fine  workmanship 
and  beauty  of  dtsign  united  so  harmoniously  as  in  the 


Clock  Case,  contributed  by  Mr,  Thomas  Sharp.  London. 
The  design  is  highly  poetical.    Time,  with  his  aucieut 


their  subscribers.  The  figure  is  well  modelled,  and  the 
attitude  and  drapery  indicate  very  completely  the  idea 
of  repose. 

The  First  Whisper  of  Love  is  another  characteristic 


work.  The  young  girl  who  bends  her  head  coyly,  but 
not  unwillingly,  to  hear  what  Cupid  has  to  say,  evidently 
does  not  know  what  manner  of  guest  it  is  she  entertains,  or 
see  the  arrow  which  he  holds  ready  to  pierce  her  unsus- 
pecting breast. 


symbols,  sits  above  and  watches  the  evolutions  of  morn- 
ing and  night.  The  former  is  symbolized  by  a  winged 
figure  crowned  with  flowers,  who  bears  in  one  hand  the 
torch  of  Aurora,  and  with  the  rosy  fingers  of  the  other, 
scatters  light  upon  the  dewy  earth.    The  figure  of  night 


bears  a  sleeping  infant  in  her  folded  arms.  Beneath  is 
perched  the  cock,  whose  clarion 

With  lively  din, 
Scatters  the  rear  of  darkness  thin. 

Opposite  is  the  solemn  bird  equally  consecrated  to  night 
and  to  Minerva. 


The  Upright  Piano,  engraved  here,  is  exhibited  by  William  Stooart  &  Son,  London. 
ST 


THE    INDUS  THY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


Tlie  Boar's  Head,  in  bronze  relievo,  and  the  casting  beneath  it, 
from  a  specimen  of  Crassuln  portulacoides,  are  exhibited  by  Clemente 


Pa.ppt,  of  Florence,  Tuscany.  The  moulds  of  these  castings  were 
formed  directly  from  the  natural  objects  which  they  represent,  and  have 


We  again  recur  with  pleasure  to  the  attrac-  The  centre  piece  which  we  cngrnve  represents  the 
tive  contributions  of  silver  ware  by  Mr.  Angel.    Halt  in  tue  Desert  of  a  party  of  Arabs  beneath 


not  been  subjected  to  any  finishing  process.  They  exhibit  great  skill  in 
the  management  of  the  materials. 


the  grateful  shade  of  a  Date  palm.  It  is  thirty  I  is  valued  at  $1,750.  At  the  foot  of  the  page 
inches  high,  contains  400  ounces  of  silver,  and  |  we  engrave  a  Silver  Basket,  contributed  by 


the  same  house.  It  is  beautifully  wrought,  and  pierced  in  imitation  of  antique  silver  ware,  and 
surrounded  with  a  chased  edge. 


23 


THE    N  E  W  •  Y  O  R  K    EXHIBITION    ILLUSTRATE  I  > . 


ART. 

IIE  Department  of  Fine  Arts  in  the  Exhibition 
will  do  us  the  great  service  of  showing  us  our 
position  in  relation  to  that  of  the  rest  of  the 
world.   Genius,  history  proves,  is  not  hereditary. 
TJie  children  of  a  king  are  not  necessarily  kings: 
nor  the  heirs  of  a  painter,  artists.    Nor  has  Art 
any  preference  for  particular  times  or  countries, 
being  a  universal  fact  of  human  development. 
But  the  aspects  and  forms  of  Art  are  as  different  as  the  spirit  of 
different  ages  and  climates.    It  need  be  -  no  shame  to  us  that  we 
have  not  originated  a  style  of  architecture,  nor  a  school  of  paint- 
ing.   For  Art  is  strictly  related  to  the  circumstances  of  life  that 
surround  it.    It  is  the  application  of  beauty  to  use.    The  per- 
ception of  beauty,  indeed,  is  quite  independent  of  use.    But,  since 
there  is  nothing  superfluous  in  nature,  use  will  always  be  found 
beneath  beauty. 

That  Art,  therefore,  will  have  its  proper  place  in  our  de- 
velopment, is  not  a  matter  of  speculation,  but  of  science.  It  is  not  proved 
by  the  erection  of  Greek  temples  for  banking-houses,  or  of  ameliorated  Gothic 
cathedrals  for  Protestant  churches,  but  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  thousand  new 
aspects  that  belong  to  our  new  life.  The  Greek  temple  arose  naturally  from 
the  study  and  combination  of  the  architecture  of  an  earlier  people.  It  bears  the 
same  relation  to  the  Egyptian,  that  *rft  Greek  character  bore  to  that  of  its  elder 
neighbor.  It  is,  perhaps,  the  best,  as  it  is  the  most  permanent  material  monument 
of  that  character.  The  inexperienced  mind  would  instantly  infer  the  poetic  har- 
mony of  the  religion  and  of  the  intellectual  development,  which  presided  in  the 
Construction  of  those  temples.  It  would  be  sure  that  no  barbarous  fetish  rites,  but 
a  high  poetic  worship,  had  place  there. 

It  is  this  strict  relation  of  Greek  Art  to  the  Greek  character  that  makes  that 
Art  so  eminent  and  complete.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  Gothic  Art  in  Germany, 
which  is  equally  the  elaborate  and  appropriate  expression  of  a  peculiar  sentiment 
and  form  of  life. 

The  essential  point  seems  to  be,  the  existence  of  some  characteristic  and  national 
life.  The  national  Art  will  be  the  expression  of  that  life  in  the  various  moulds  into 
which  it  casts  itself.  A  maritime  nation,  the  soul  of  whose  prosperity  and  interest 
is  commerce,  will  build  fine  ships.  An  inland  people,  who  depend  upon  safe  and 
prompt  intercourse  with  others,  will  show  magnificent  roads,  bridges,  and  aque- 
ducts. Each  country  and  century  will  work  in  its  own  way.  In  the  degree  that 
the  composition  of  the  people  is  eclectic,  so  will  be  the  spirit  of  their  career,  and 
so  necessarily  must  be  their  Art.  The  Art  of  France,  for  instance,  is  bijouterie. 
French  pictures,  French  statues,  French  architecture,  are  merely  copies  and  echoes 
of  others.  They  are  infected  by  what  we  call  "  Frenchiness,"  by  which  we  mean 
that  they  are  works  indigenous  to  another  feeling  and  development  than  the 
French,  which  the  French  has  merely  touched,  without  essentially  changing — cer- 
tainly without  improving.  But  the  case  is  very  different  with  the  matter  of 
bijouterie.  Now  this  department  is  peculiarly  French,  and  therefore  it  is  France 
that  gives  the  name  to  it. 

The  American  character  partakes  of  the  same  eclecticism,  and  we  must  look 
for  it  in  American  Art.  It  will  show  works  of  every  spirit  and  age;  but  its  dis- 
tinctive works  of  Art  will  belong  rather  to  the  department  of  the  useful  than  of  the 
fine.  Scarcely  in  GreeW  sculpture  are  there  finer  works  than  some  of  Poweks'  busts' 
and  statues ;.  yet,  just  in  proportion  as  his  work  is  excellent,  it  is  not  American  but 
Greek.  We  may  erect  bronze  figures  in  memory  of  our  great  men  ;  but  neither 
the  idea  nor  the  execution  are  peculiarly  our  own.  But  a  yacht  that  outsails  all 
other  yachts,  a  caloric  engine,  and  a  magnetic  telegraph,  are  achievements  not 
possible  in  Rome,  or  Greece,  or  mediaeval  Europe.  We  do  not  mean  to  decry  every 
thing  but  the  spinning  jenny  and  the  locomotive.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  in  an 
eclecticism,  or  the  union  of  various  excellencies  that  distinguishes  our  national 
character,  that  we  find  the  best  reason  for  believing  that  we  shall  in  time  exhibit 
not  only  what  is  peculiar  to  ourselves,  but  what  is  best  in  many  developments ; 
that  as  a  rich  mind  borrows  from  all  times  and  countries,  the  graces  of  their 
genius,  and  yet  does  not  sacrifice  to  them  the  integrity  of  its  own,  so  we  shall 
incorporate  what  is  characteristic  of  others  with  what  is  essentially  our  own. 
Because  we  build  ships  well,  it  is  a  pity  we  should  have  no  pictures;  and  because 
the  Gothic  architecture  is  not  indigenous  with  us,  there  is  no  reason  why  we 
should  have  unhandsome  houses. 

We  look  to  this  Exhibition,  therefore,  to  indicate  the  quality  of  our  genius  for 
the  Fine  Arts,  as  distinguished  from  the  useful — terms  which  are  more  convenient 
than  accurate,  especially  in  a  country  where,  as  we  apprehend,  the  useful  will  be 
the  fine.  As  civilisation  advances,  the  sphere  of  Art  enlarges.  It  regards  not  only 
the  exterior  form  of  the  house,  but  the  details  of  the  interior.  It  is  to  be  sought 
in  the  harmonious  blending  of  the  whole.  The  forms  of  the  furniture,  of  the  name- 
less devices  of  comfort  and  luxury  are  all  considered  by  it,  and  all  in  reference  to 


a  general  effect.  The  quality  of  the  influence  thus  exercised,  is  much  to'o  subtle 
to  be  exactly  appreciated.  It  is  not  possible  to  determine  just  how  much  it  benefits 
a  man  to  see  an  exquisite  vase,  or  to  hear  a  fine  strain  of  music.  But  it  is  very 
easy  to  perceive  that  he  who  is  subject  to  the  constant  influence  of  beautiful  forms, 
is  in  a  fair  way  to  have  beautiful  feelings. 

There  are  few  spots  more  pleasantly  remembered  than  the  gallery  of  vases  in 
the  Vatican.  It  is  a  region  of  purity,  and  grace,  and  exquisite  thought :  an  air  of 
cool  repose  pervades  it.  But  the  visitor,  as  he  hurries  toward  the  cartoons  of 
Raphael  beyond,  pauses  amid  these  lyrics  of  grace,  and  finds  that  they  are  only 
the  forms  of  useful  objects.  The  form  feasts  his  ?ense  of  beauty  as  the  vases  them- 
selves served  other  and  more  material  uses.  And  when  he  has  left  them,  and 
confronts  the  cartoons,  he  finds  that  they,  also,  are  but  curtain-designs  drawn  by 
Raphael.  So,  in  what  we  are  accustomed  to  call  the  highest  and  most  rigorous 
Art,  is  the  plainest  use  hidden  in  beaut}'.  How  then  can  we  doubt  of  our  own 
proficiency,  if  we  see  that  Art  itself  is,  really,  not  a  whim  or  a  caprice,  but  a 
necessity  ? 

It  will  be  our  duty  in  recording  the  Department  of  the  Fine  Arts  in  the  Exhi- 
bition, to  insist  rigorously  (where  we  do  more  than  describe)  upon  the  obvious 
principles  of  simplicity  and  truthfulness.  Irrelevance  in  a  work  of  Art,  as  in  all 
other  modes  of  expression,  is  deformity.  It  destroys  the  force  of  the  effect  by 
distracting  the  mind.  Simplicity  may  be  as  rich  as  imagination  can  make  it.  A 
superb  queen  in  diamonds,  who  is  so  beautiful  an<i  queenly,  that  the  diamonds  only 
emulate  afar  off  the  lustre  of  her  eyes  and  the  splendor  of  her  presence,  is  as  simple 
as  naked  Eve  in  Eden.  The  effect  is  deepened  by  the  ornament.  Beauty,  when 
unadorned,  is  certainly  not  adorned  the  most :  for  beautiful  effects  belong  natu- 
rally to  beautiful  persons  only,  as  the  most  majestic  of  temples  were  erected  in 
honor  of  the  gods.  Simplicity  and  propriety  are  the  canons  of  correct  judgment 
in  Art.    We  shall  endeavor  to  conform  our  criticisms  to  them. 


GLASS  PAINTING. 


THE  visitor  to  the  Exhibition  will  see  in  the  windows  of  the  galleries  numerous 
specimens  of  painted  glass,  the  work  of  both  foreign  and  native  artists.  On  a 
future  occasion,  we  shall  present  copies  of  some  of  these  designs  among  our  illus- 
trations. As  the  principles  and  history  of  this  beautiful  art  are  little  known  in 
the  United  States,  we  take  occasion  to  invite  attention  to  the  following  sketch  of 
its  history  and  practice. 

The  art  of  glass  painting  or  staining  is  one  of  the  earliest  of  those  deco- 
rations which  are  still  retained  in  modern  architecture.  Its  early  history  is 
confused  and  often  contradictory,  but  as  far  as  we  are  acquainted  with  it, 
the  first  example  of  this  decoration  belongs  to  the  sixth  century,  when  it  was 
used  to  enrich  the  Basilica  of  St.  Sophia,  the  famous  Church  of  Justinian,  in 
which  his  successors  long  after  were  invested  with  the  sovereignty  of  the  East. 
An  instance  which  can  be  stated  with  greater  confidence  is  that  of  Pope  Leo 
III.  (A.  D.  795 — 816),  who  is  said  to  have  used  colored  glass  in  adorning  the 
windows  of  the  Lateran.  During  the  tenth  century  it  was  much  admired  and 
practised  in  Western  Europe,  and  its  processes  are  minutely  described  in  the 
"Artium  Schedula"  of  Theophilus,  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  written  in  the 
following  century.  It  was  not,  however,  until  the  twelfth  century  that  it  exhibit- 
ed imaginative  power,  and  rose  to  the  dignity  of  a  fine  art.  It  shared  in  the  pow- 
erful impulse  which  the  Cmsades  had  then  given  to  all  the  thoughts  and  works 
of  Christendom,  and  became  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  religious  enthusiasm, 
which  was  the  ruling  spirit  of  that  and  succeeding  ages.  Its  subjects  were  chosen 
from  the  Scriptures  and  the  saintly  legends  of  the  church,  and  the  artists  who 
wrought  them,  were  influenced  more  by  a  fervid  love,  of  God  than  by  any  hope  of 
earthly  fame.  Under  the  influence  of  such  sympathy  and  alliance  with  religious 
worship,  the  art  of  glass  painting  attained  an  unexampled  sway  over  the  affections 
of  the  people,  and  became  an  essential  feature  as  well  as  ornament  of  ecclesiastical 
architecture.  Its  use  therefore  was  coextensive  with  the  sovereignty  of  the 
church,  and  its  progress  justified  the  patronage  so  lavishly  bestowed  upon  it, 
until  at  the  end  of  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  it  reached  its  greatest 
perfection  and  the  summit  of  its  power.  From  this  time  onward  it  declined  ;  its 
productions  became  more  elaborate  and  historical,  at  the  expense  of  the  richness 
and  brilliancy  which  had  been  their  peculiar  merit ;  in  the  eighteenth  century  the 
art  ceased  to  be  practised,  though  it  was  not  absolutely  forgotten ;  and  in  our 
own  times,  it  shares  in  the  reawakened  taste  for  the  mediaeval  arts,  and  in  their 
revival. 

The  transitions  in  the  styles  of  glass  painting  are  not  less  remarkable  than  the 
vicissitudes  of  its  history.  In  its  elementary  condition,  it  was  limited  to  the  sym- 
metrical arrangement  of  pieces  of  glass  of  various  sizes  and  colors.  The  combi- 
nation of  colors  was  the  only  charm  to  which  this  mode  of  decoration  could  lay 
claim,  until  by  the  study  of  classic  models,  the  beauty  of  correct  form  was  again 
recognized.    This  fact  may  explain  why  it  was  that  the  earliest  feeling  for  art 

!i9 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


expended  itself  in  this  rather  than  any  other  channel,  and  why,  as  knowledge  grew 
and  taste  became  refined,  the  art  of  glass  painting  did  not  maintain  its  place 
among  the  other  arts  then  invented  or  revived.  In  the  windows  constructed 
before  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century,  figures  are  the  occasional  exceptions, 
and  when  -introduced,  they  are  little  else  than  very  brilliant  mosaics,  which, 
except  by  their  outlines  and  local  color,  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish  from  the 
borders  and  background  of  the  composition.  In  the  Gothic  paintings,  which  may 
be  said  to  have  sprung  from  the  mosaic,  single  figures  or  groups  occupy  the  centre 
and  are  surrounded  with  borders  and  canopies  of  rich  and  intricate  pattern;  but 
even  here,  the  drawing  plays  only  a  subordinate  part,  and  the  outlines  are  heavy 
and  rude.  To  produce  a  pictorial  effect,  the  artist  has  evidently  relied  most  upon 
the  skilful  disposition  of  brilliant  and  positive  colors.  Finally,  the  revival  of  the 
arts  in  the  sixteenth  century  had  its  influence  upon  glass  painting.  A  more  deli- 
cate and  correct  style  of  drawing  was  adopted ;  the  depth  of  the  colors  was  in- 
creased by  the  use  of  a  purer  and  better  quality  of  glass ;  broad  and  graduated 
shadows  took  the  place  of  the  stilf  and  narrow  outlines  of  earlier  times;  perspec- 
tive was  attempted ;  and  unsuccessful  efforts  were  made  to  imitate  in  a  trans- 
parent material  the  atmospheric  and  picturesque  effects  of  nature,  and  to  rival  the 
details  and  refinements  of  oil  and  fresco  paintings.  The  mosaic  paintings  were 
carried  to  greater  perfection  than  had  been  hitherto  arrived  at,  and  the  discovery 
of  the  ena*iel  colors  still  further  extended  the  resources  of  the  art.  The  use  of 
enamels  was,  however,  attendecWith  corresponding  disadvantages.  In  proportion 
as  glass  paintings  became  strictly  pictures,  their  depth  of  color  diminished  ;  trans- 
parency was  sacrificed  to  variety  of  tints,  and  what  was  gained  in  sentiment  was 
lost  in  vivid  impressions  upon  the  senses.  This  wrong  estimate  of  the  capabilities 
of  glass  painting  hastened  its  decay.  It  must  also  be  remembered,  that  popular 
favor  and  the  patronage  of  princes,  which  had  been  so  long  the  exclusive  pos- 
session of  this  art,  were  powerfully  attracted  by  the  masterly  productions  of  oil 
and  fresco  painting,  and  by  the  new  art  of  engraving  on  copper.  By  these,  glass 
painting  was  finally  supplanted  altogether. 

The  decay  of  which  we  have  spoken  was  not  immediate.  Its  causes  were 
busy  while  the  best  works  of  the  art  were  being  produced — those  which  have 
been  selected  by  competent  authority  as  the  standards  of  comparison,  by  which 
all  other  glass  paintings  are  to"  be  judged.  Such  are  the  works  of  the  Dutch 
brothers,  Dirck  and  Wouter  Crabeth,  which  were  executed  in  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  and  stfll  adorn  St.  Jan's  Kirk,  at  Gouda,  in  Holland.  Few 
things  in  Europe  possess  greater  intrinsic  beauty,  still  fewer  are  more  wonderful 
in  their  effect  upon  an  American  than  these  lofty  windows,  whose  large  sur- 
faces are  glowing  with  the  richest  and  most  brilliant  hues,  arranged  with  ar- 
tistic regard  to  the  laws  of  harmony  and  contrast  as  well  as  richness  of  ensemble. 
They  have  always  been  the  admiration  of  natives  and  travellers,  and  by  con- 
noisseurs they  have  been  declared  to  exhibit  every  conceivable  excellence  of  this 
;  species  of  art,  and  to  be  unsurpassable  in  execution  and  coloring.  When  Paibens 
i  visited  them,  he  could  only  be  satisfied  by  mounting  a  ladder  to  examine  them 
closely  and  minutely ;  and  one — the  Sacrilege  of  Ileliodorus — he  pronounced  to 
be  of  inestimable  value,  for  which  no  money  was.  an  equivalent.  The  materials 
of  which  the  windows  of  the  sixteenth  century  were  composed,  so  closely  resemble 
those  now  in  use,  that  they  are  for  this  reason,  in  addition  to  others,  more  justly 
selected  as  the  standards  of  comparison.  The  composition  of  the  more  ancient 
i  glass,  is  widely  different,  and  its  peculiar  effects  cannot  be  reproduced  by  arti- 
ficially weathering  the  surface  of  recent  glass,  in  imitation  of  the  obscuring  and 
;    corroding  results  of  age  and  long  exposure. 

As  in  every  other  art  and  decoration,  the  art  of  glass  painting  is  subject  to 
i  certain  limitations,  which  arise  partly  from  the  object  it  desires  to  accomplish, 
and  partly  from  the  nature  of  the  materials  it  employs.  The  true  artist  will  not 
seek  fame  by  transcending  these  conditions,  but  while  rigidly  complying  with 
them,  he  will  show  his  appreciation  of  Ins  art  and  mastery  over  it,  by  converting 
its  obstacles  into  the  means  of  his  own  success.  The  design  for  a  painting  on 
glass  should  be  in  itself  beautiful  and  pleasing,  and  in  harmony  with  the  archi- 
tecture and  object  of  the  building  it  is  intended  to  adorn.  Besides  these  points, 
the  artist  in  choosing  his  composition  will  have  to  consider,  the  great  distance  at 
which  it  must  be  viewed,  the  brilliant  and  transparent  nature  of  the  materials,  and 
the  mechanical  construction  of  the  window.  This,  if  it  is  not  a  mere  toy  or 
cabinet  window,  must 'consist  of  a  great  number  of  pieces  of  glass,  which  are 
united  with  lead  and  strengthened  by  an  arming  or  frame-work  of  iron  bars.  A 
condition  which  would  be  fatal  in  any  other  kind  of  painting  is  far  from  being  a 
disadvantage  in  painting  on  glass.  This  will  be  apparent  when  their  use  as 
windows  is  thought  of.  They  are  not  mere  decorations,  but  serve  also  to 
temper  the  intensity  of  the  sun's  rays,  and  shed  a  "dim  religious  light,"  in 
harmony  with  the  solemnities  of  church  service  and  the  devout  feelings  of 
the  worshippers.  This  purpose  is  excellently  fulfilled  by  the  division  of  the 
window  into  a  great  number  of  parts,  whose  pure  deep  tints  disperse  the  sun- 
light, and  mingle  their  richness  with  it.  In  the  most  effective  works  the 
figures  and  their  .draperies  are  subjected  to  the  same  treatment,  and  the  lead- 
tag  is  ingeniously  made  to  follow  the  drawing  and  increase  its  effect.  In  many 
instances,  the  bars  of  the  arming  are  conspicuous  in  the  lights  of  the  window, 

80 


which  the  artist  would  surely  have  been  at  pains  to  conceal,  if  he  had  not  in- 
tended his  -work  to  be  a  symbol  or  a  monument,  rather  than  a  picture  in  the 
sense  of  the  word  as  applied  to  an  oil-painting.  The  transparency  of  the  glass  is 
to  be  carefully  preserved,  and  its  brilliancy  heightened.  The  object  of  the  artist 
is  not  to  produce  the  best  possible  picture,  but  the  best  bright,  and  transparent 
one.  With  this  end  in  view,  enamels  are  used  sparingly,  the  coloring  being  mostly 
produced  by  glass  colored  in  the  manufacture  (pot-metal  and  flashed  glass),  whose 
pure  and  vivid  tints  cannot  be  imitated  by  enamels.  How  much  of  the  bfcutiful 
effect  of  a  glass  painting  depends  upon  its  brightness  and  transparency,  may  be 
easily  ascertained  by  comparing  some  of  the  ancient  windows  with  modern  resto- 
rations placed  beside  them,  in  which  these  conditions  have  riot  been  preserved. 
xVlthough  the  latter  may  be  far  superior  in  composition,  drawing,  and  those  ar- 
tistic qualities  which  make  a  good  picture,  they  are  far  from  being  good  glass 
paintings,  and  have  a  dark,  dull,  and  unpleasing  effect.  The  contrast  would  be 
much  more  favorable  to  the  ancient  method,  if  incorrect  drawing  and  similar  un- 
intentional errors,  not  properly  belonging  to  the  method,  but  to  the  time  in  which 
it  prevailed,  were  separated  from  its  simplicity  and  vivid  coloring. 

The  distance  at  which  a  glass  painting  must  be  placed  from  the  eye  of  the 
spectator,  is  one  of  the  most  important  limitations  of  the  art,  and  requires  a  mode 
of  troatment  altogether  distinct  from  that  of  any  other  species  of  painting.  The 
minute  details  which  would  be  possible  and  effective  on  an  opaque  surface,  are 
wholly  lost  on  the  distant  and  translucent  surface  of  a  cathedral  window,  if  indeed 
the  process  of  burning  in  the  colors  has  not  already  destroyed  them — an  accident 
most  likely  to  happen. 

The  nice  gradations  of  color  which  contribute  to  the  harmony  of  an  oil-paint- 
ing are  inappropriate  for  the  same  reason,  ^hey  inevitably  blend  together  into  a 
single  color,  which,  nevertheless,  fails  of  the  lively  appearance  that  constitutes  an 
essential  charm  of  the  art.  The  inexperienced  artist,  who  bestows  his  labor  in 
the  elaborate  arrangement  of  the  half-tints  of  his  cartoon,  will  be  surprised  and 
mortified  to  find  that  this  very  labor  has  spoiled  the  effect  of  his  completed  work. 
He  may  also  draw  this  conclusion  from  his  failure,  that  the  best  masters  were  not 
so  much  ignorant  of  the  mode,  as  aware  of  the  inexpediency  of  copying  the  de- 
tails and  delicacies  of  oil-painting,  and  that  it  is  well  to  imitate  the  ideas  of  sister 
arts,  but  not  their  methods. 

The  material  of  a  glass  painting  and  its  position  exclude  shadows  also,  or  admit 
only  such  as  are  quite  transparent.  A  glass  painting  is  not,  like  any  other,  illu- 
minated from  some  exterior  source,  but  the  light  which  makes  the  figures  visiblo, 
shines  through  them.  To  paint  an  opaque  or  very  obscure  shadow  under  such 
circumstances  is  nothing  else  than  an  artistic  absurdity,  and  it  meets  with  another 
objection  equally  important,  that  it  destroys  the  utility  of  the  window  as  a  means 
of  admitting  light  into  the  interior — the  very  object  for  which  the  painting  has 
any  existence  at  all.  We  repeat  that  the  art  of  glass  painting  does  not  contem- 
plate the  production  of  pictures  in  the  strict  sense  of  that  word,  but  architectural 
decorations,  which  are  employed  to  add  a  new  charm  to  the  structure,  by  present- 
ing the  symbol  of  some  scene  or  thought  in  harmony  with  it.  Even  could  the 
point  of  deception  be  reached  in  imitating  some  other  method  or  style  of  art,  it 
would  not  be  a  high  merit.  In  this,  as  in  all  other  decorations  applied  to  useful 
objects  or  purposes,  we  hold  it  to  be  a  sound  principle,  that  whenever  ornament 
interferes  with  or  destroys  utility,  it  is  misapplied  or  radically  wrong. 

At  the  revival,  about  twenty-five  years  ago,  of  this  beautiful  art,  its  restorers 
divided  themselves  into  two  schools,  according  to  their  widely  different  views  and 
practice.  The  artists  of  the  one  have  adhered  to  the  flat  and  simple  treatment 
generally  practised  by  our  forefathers,  and  found  so  •  effective  by  them  ;  tho  fol- 
lowers of  the  other,  belonging  mostly  to  the  continent *of  Europe,  have  been 
governed  by  principles  quite  the  opposite,  and  have  done  every  thing  to  treat  their 
windows  as  true  pictures.  The  latter  have  been  very  skilful  in  the  management 
of  their  materials,  and  wonderfully  successful  in  overcoming  what  would  seem  to  I 
be  insurmountable  difficulties  in  imitating  the  delicate  details  and  harmonies  of 
oil-painting.  But  here  our  praise  must  end.  Their  sflccess  has  not  been  complete  ; 
whatever  softness  and  high  finish  has  been  arrived  at  in  the  painting,  has  been 
fatally  injured,  as  we  have  beforo  pointed  out,  by  the  harsh  effect  of  tho  mechani- 
cal construction  of  the  window,  or  lost  in  the  distance  at  which  it  must  be  viewed. 
For  reasons  already  mentioned,  we  must  regard  these  works  with  all  their  separate 
beauties  as  instances  of  architectural  unfitness,  and  of  the  misapplication  of  labor 
and  materials — results  which  must  always  follow  when  the  principles  of  two  dis- 
tinct arts  are  confounded  together.  InVegardto  those  who  have  adopted  the 
severer  style  of  the  earlier  artists,  we  have  only  to  remark,  that  it  is  a  grave  fault 
to  associate  in  one  work  imitations  of  the  styles  belonging  to  different  times  and 
places.  '  A  work  made  up  of  fragmentary  reproductions  will  always  be  incon- 
gruous and  unpleasing,  even  to  those  who  are  unable  to  explain  the  cause  of  the 
effect  of  which  they  are  conscious.  Tho  style  which  the  artist  professes  to  imitate 
should  be  reproduced  faithfully,  but  to  do  this  it  is  not  necessary,  as  some  have 
done,  to  repeal  incorrect  drawing  and  the  similar  unintentional  errors  of  ignorance. 

In  estimating  the  excellences  of  the  two  distinct  classes  of  glass  painting,  Mr. 
Kedquave  justly  remarks  that  tho  greater  strength  and  durability  of  the  ancient 
method  should  bo  noticed.    A  modern  pictorial  window,  constructed  of  a  single 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


sheet  of  glass,  or  a  few  large  panes,  may  be  ruined  by  a  single  careless  or  malicious 
blow,  but  such  an  accident  could  do  only  a  slight  injury  to  a  work  on  the  old 
method,  and  it  could  be  easily  and  cheaply  repaired.  And,  besides,  the  frequent 
leading,  by  slightly  deranging  the  plane  of  the  window,  heightens  the  rich  aud 
beautiful  lustre  of  the  glass,  just  as  the  facets  on  a  jewel  multiply  its  sparkling 
brightness. 

From  our  brief  explanations  of  the  principles  of  glass  painting,  it  will  be  seen 
that  its  practice  is  surrounded  with  numerous  and  unusual  difficulties.    The  artist 
cannot  rely  upon  himself  alone  to  realize  his  conceptions,  but  he  must  call  the 
science  of  the  chemist,  and  the  practical  skill  of  the  glazier,  to  his  assistance.  The 
difficulties  are  much  greater  when  glass  colored  in  the  manufacture  is  used  only 
sparingly,  and  numerous  pigments  are  employed  to  produce  the  design.    This  style 
is  laborious,  and  more  or  less  uncertain,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  nature  of  the 
pigments  and  the  manner  of  applying  them.    The  colors  themselves  are  chiefly 
metallic  oxyds,  which  are  applied  to  the  surface  of  the  glass,  and  are  incorporated 
with  it  by  the  aid  of  vitreous  or  verifiable  fluxes,  upon  exposure  to  a  given  tem- 
perature, much  lower,  however,  than  that  at  which  glass  softens  and  bends. 
Since  the  colors  are  seen  by  transmitted  and  not  by  reflected  light,  they  must,  in 
general,  possess -after  fusion  the  brightness  and  transparency  of  glass  itself.  In 
some  instances,  however,  a  half-transparency  is  sufficient,  and  such  a  pigment 
may  be  employed  if  it  admits  of  rich  coloring ;  and  in  fewer  cases  the  art  requires 
pigments  nearly  or  quite  opaque.    They  are  also  required  to  be  hard  enough  to 
resist  the  friction  of  solid  bodies,  to  be  unchangeable  by  the  action  of  moisture,  or 
by  the  air  and  the  gases  diffused  in  it,  and  to  have  an  expansibility  precisely  in 
proportion  to  that  of  the  glass.    The  last  property  is  necessary  to  enable  the 
colors  to  accommodate  themselves  to  the  expansions  and  contractions  of  the 
painted  plates  during  the  process  of  bwning  ir^,  as  \ve\\  asto  those  which  they  after- 
wards undergo  by  exposure  in  the  windows.    The  polished  surface  of  glass  is  not 
well  adapted  to  laying  on  colors,  a  second  touch  of  the  pencil  frequently  removing 
w  hat  the  first  applied.    This  obstacle  is  got  over  by  a  simple  and  ingenious  mode 
of  painting,  called  by  the  French  peinture  par  enlemge.    It  consists  in  drawing 
the  outlines  with  an  oil  color,  and  afterwards  painting  the  whole  plate  with  a  uni- 
form coat  of  water  colors,  and  when  the  latter  have  become  quite  dry,  they  are 
removed  with  a  stiff  brush  to  different  degrees,  as  the  design  may  require.  Where 
the  color  is  completely  brushed  off  lights,  are  produced ;  half  tints  are  seen  where 
the  removal  is  imperfect,  and  shadows  in  the  untouched  places.    In  this  way  the 
ground  color  is  laid  on,  and  when  it  has  been  burnt  in,  the  plate  may  be  again 
painted  and  retouched.    This  method  is  recommended  by  its  comparative  simpli 
city  and  quickness.    It  is  well  suited  to  the  representation  of  light  colors  on  a 
dark  ground,  and  of  embroidery.    Nothwithstanding  the  beauty  which  may  be 
attained  by  the  free  or  exclusive  use  of  enamel  colors  in  the  hands  of  an  ingenious 
artist,  we  cannot  but  think  that  better  results  might  be  obtained  by  simpler 
means.    The  finest  effects  of  the  art  have  certainly  been  produced  by  methods 
far  less  uncertain  and  ambitious,  as  in  the  so-called  Gothic  windows  of  some  of 
the  old  cathedrals,  from  which  the  slanting  sunlight  borrows  the  most  gorgeous 
and  brilliant  hues,  blended  in  soft,  delicious  harmonies.    In  these  windows  the 
colors  are  produced  altogether  by  pot-metal  and  flashed  glass,  and  only  a  single 
enamel,  a  brown  opaque  pigment,  is  used  to  mark  the  outlines  and  the  shadows. 

The  modern  art  of  glass  painting  has  little  in  common  with  the  ancient  me 
thods.    When  the  art  was  revived  after  the  long  neglect  which  it  had  experienced 
the  improvements  in  the  quality  of  glass,  especially  its  greater  fusibility,  made  it  im- 
possible to  use  the  old  pigments,  prepared  for  a  harder  material.  Their  composition, 
and  the  methods  of  applying  them,  were  also  unknown,  or  so  imperfectly  under- 
stood, that  new  processes  were  necessary,  and  the  ever-fruitful  science  of  chemis 
try  was  called  upon  to  invent  them.    The  results  were  so  successful,  that  the  an- 
cient  colors  and  methods  have  been  equalled,  and  sometimes  surpassed  in  beauty, 
and  in  every  useful  quality.    And  in  respect  to  glass  itself,  the  modern  is  far 
superior  to  the  ancient  in  transparency  and  whiteness,  and  in  whatever  gives  to 
glass  its  peculiar  character  and  beauty.    It  is  often  said  that  the  art  of  coloring, 
particularly  of  making  the  ruby  of  the  ancients,  has  been  lost.    Such  an  assertion 
could  be  made  only  in  ignorance  of  the  facts  of  history  and  the  resources  of 
chemistry.    There  was  a  time  when  the  manufacture  of  colored  glass  was  discon- 
tinued, not  because  the  art  of  making  it  was  forgotten,  but  because  there  was  no 
longer  any  demand  for  it.    The  number  of  metallic  oxyds  was  never  greater,  and 
the  modes  of  employing  them  never  better  understood  than  at  present.    It  is  not 
in  the  materials  and  mechanical  resources  that  the  art  of  glass  painting  is  now-a- 
days  deficient,  if  it  is  deficient  at  all,  but  in  that  exquisite  taste  and  unerring  artis- 
tic judgment,  which  are  so  manifest  in  the  old  masterpieces  of  the  art.    Many  of 
the  old  glass  painters  had  another  advantage ;  they  were  architects  as  well  as  de- 
corators ;  they  planned  and  constructed  the  edifice,  and  then  finished  the  orna- 
ments, the  glass  paintings  among  them,  with  their  own  hands.    In  design  and 
coloring  they  were,  therefore,  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  style  of  architec- 
ture ;  each  adorned  and  interpreted  the  other.     But  now  the  practice  is  reversed. 
The  glass  painter  works  quite  independently  of  the  architect,  and  not  uufre- 
quently  without  reference  to  his  plans,  or  knowledge  of  them.    Under  such 
circumstancesthe  best  effects  of'the  art  are  not  to  be  expected.    The  incongrui- 


ties which  are  perpetrated  would  be  much  more  bbvious  and  displeasing,  if,  in  our 
churches,  any  thing  which,  by  courtesy,  could  be  called  architecture  was  commonly 
known  among  us.  The  modern  glass  painter  must  "remember  in  choosing  his  design 
that  he  lives  in  the  nineteenth  century,  and  that  he  is  called  upon  to  adorn  the  churches 
of  Protestants,  or  at  least  of  people  who  have  no  faith  in  saints  and  martyrs,  and 
a  very  slight  reverence  indeed  for  madonnas  and  holy  families.  When  such  sub- 
jects were  set  up  in  church  windows  they  expressed  the  feelings  and  faith  of  a 
credulous  and  enthusiastic  age,  they  embodied  its  poetry  and  sentiment,  and  were 
the  teachers  of  the  people.  But  let  the  same  subjects,  executed  with  equal  spirit 
and  beauty,  be  placed  in  a  modern  church,  and  they  will  excite  no  especial  ad- 
miration, and  fail  utterly  of  touching  the  hearts  of  those  who  see  them.  They 
have  nothing  in  common  with  our  thoughts  and  life  ;  in  fine,  they  do  not  partici- 
pate in  the  spirit  of  the  age.  The  art  of  glass  painting  can  never  again  have  the 
influence  which  it  exercised  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  and  if  it 
hopes  to  receive  its  fair  share  of  admiration  and  patronage,  it  will  not  be  by  copy- 
ing with  endless  iteration  the  works  of  old  masters,  but  by  creating  new  designs, 
consonant  with  our  faith  and  knowledge,  while  they  carefully  preserve  the  prin- 
ciples which  have  'been  established  by  experience.  We  cannot  see  why  this 
beautiful  art,  susceptible  of  so  manj  beautiful  applications,  should  be  confined 
always  to  uhurehes.  Its  true  field,  and  the  widest  range  of  subjects  in  future, 
will  be  found,  we  think,  in  the  decoration  of  secular  buildings.  At  least,  this  ap- 
plication is  worth  the  serious  attention  of  the  artist. 

In  bringing  our  imperfect  notice  of  glass  painting  to  a  close,  we  regret  that  in 
the  present  early  and  incomplete  state  of  the  Exhibition,  the  examples  of  the  art 
are  not  yet  displayed  in  such  a  manner  that  we  can  give  a  catalogue  raisonne, 
and,  of  course,  not  a  criticism  upon  them.    This  we  propose  to  do  on  a  future 


THORWALDSEN— CHRIST  AND  THE  APOSTLES. 

THIS  group'was  made  by  TnoRWALDSEN  in  the  maturity  of  his  genius,  for  the 
new  Cathedral  of  Copenhagen  ;  the  figure  of  Christ  for  the  high  altar,  and  the 
Apostles  for  the  aisles.  He  had  already  made  another  group  for  the  pediment, 
St.  John  preaching  in  the  wilderness,  and  for  the  niches  of  the  vestibule,  the  great 
prophets.  But  the  decorations  of  the  interior  were  to  be  of  a  still  higher  order, 
transcending,  as  it  might  have  seemed,  the  utmost  reach  of  art.  Michael  Angelo 
had  modelled  a  figure  of  the  Saviour,  a  noble  figure,  full  of  energy  and  power,  but 
with  little  of  that  serene  majesty  which  we  instinctively  conceive  as  the  chief 
characteristic  of  Christ's  human  manifestation,  and  with  none  'of  that  winning 
sweetness  which  welcomed  the  little  children,  and  drew  the  disciple,  whom  he 
loved,  to  lean  confidingly  upon  his  bosom.  Raphael  has  painted  him  floating  sub- 
limely in  the  dazzling  radiance  of  the  "  Transfiguration,"  and  Da  Vinci  has  left, 
as  the  highest  effort  of  his  pencil,  a  form  of  equal  majesty  surrounded  by  the 
twelve  in  their  last  solemn  celebration  upon  earth.  Thorwaldsen's  task  was  a 
still  more  difficult  one,  to  give  to  tach  figure  its  characteristic  attribute,  and  yet, 
without  the  assistance  of  unity  of  time  and  action,  diffuse  through  all,  that 
harmony  of  thought  and  feeling  which  must  necessarily  flow  from  the  har- 
monious conception  of  their  sublime  mission.  Thorwaldsen,  as  we  have  al- 
ready said,  was  in  the  full  vigor  of  his  genius,  and  this  herculean  task,  which 
would  have  filled  up  the  life  of  almost  any  other  man,  was  accomplished  in  a  few 
years,  during  which  he  produced  several  other  works,  which  also  rank  among  his 
best. 

If  the  reader  wishes  to  know  how  so  much  could  be  done  within  a  very  limited 
period,  he  must  remember  that  Thorwaldsen's  studios  were  filled  with  young  men 
who  had  been  carefully  trained  under  his  own  eye  in  the  manipulations  of  art,  and 
several  of  whom  have  subsequently  taken  a  high  stand  as  independent  artists. 
Hence,  when  he  was  about  to  engage  in  some  work  of  great  magnitude,  his  first 
step  was  to  prepare  a  clay  model  a  foot  and  a  half  or  two  feet  high,  containing  all 
the  characteristics  of  the  finished  statue.  This  was  the  invention,  with  him  a 
rapid  process,  and  no  one  who  has  not  seen  them,  can  conceive  the  life,  and  move- 
ment, and  freedom  of  touch  which  he  gave  to  these  little  figures.  The  real  diffi- 
culty was  now  overcome.  Genius  had  performed  its  part ;  industry  and  mecha- 
nical skill  could  do  the  rest.  With  this  model  before  him  the  workman  set  up 
the  figure,  and  began  to  work  out  the  details.  Every  day  Thorwaldsen 
himself  would  come  to  observe  his  progress.  If  all  was  right  he  would  pass 
on  without  remark.  But  if  there  was  any  change  to  be  made  he  would 
either  point  it  out,  or  take  up  a  modelling  stick  and  make  it  himself.  Sometimes 
he  would  become  so  much  interested  in  his  work  that  he  would  go  on  for  hours 
without  stopping.  Sometimes  too  important  changes  were  suggested  by  some  casual 
alteration  in  a  trifling  point.  The  greatest  figure  of  the  group,  the  Christ  itself,  is  an 
instance  of  this.  Tennerani,  his  favorite  scholar,  was  working  upon  it,  and  the 
whole  figure  bears  the  marks  of  his  accurate  and  finished  touch.  In  the  original 
sketch  the  arms  were  not  arranged  to  Thorwaldsen's  satisfaction,  and  when  the 

81 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


figure  had  been  set  up  in  its  colossal  proportions,  he  became  still  more  dissatisfied 
and  resolved  to  change  them.  But  how  to  do  it  was  the  point.  The  idea  in  his 
own  mind  was  clear  enough,  btTt  lie  could  not  hit  upon  the  expression  that  he 
wanted  in  order  to  bring  it  out  with  all  its  force.  Day  after  day  lie  returned  to 
alter,  condemn  and  alter  again,  but  all  in  vain.  At  lastt,  one  day,  after  he  had 
gone  away,  Tennerani  ventured,  for  the  experiment's  sake,  to  open  the  arms  a 
little  wider.  "That  is  just  what  I  want,"  cried  Thorwaldsen  the  moment  that  he 
saw  it,  and  the  figure  was  finished,  as  it  now  stands,  without  any  further  changes. 
Thorwaldsen's  enemies,  like  Raphael's,  blamed,  him  for  this  manner  of  working, 
and  said  that  he  had  forgotten  how  to  model ;  and,  like  Raphael,  he  answered 
them  by  modelling  with  his  own  hands,  the  corrected  and  most  finished  of  his 
works,  the  vigorous  statue  of  Vulcan.  Rut  his  bas-reliefs,  a  style  of  work  which 
does  not  admit  of  this  distribution  of  labor,  were  all  modelled  by  his  own  hand. 

We  are  glad  to  see  this  group  in  our  exhibition.  To  those  who  have  never 
been  in  Europe,  it  affords  the  best  opportunity  they  can  ask  for  seeing  how  sculp- 
ture ma)-  be  made  to  express  the  sublimest  conceptions.  Thorwaldsen  was  not 
only  the  greatest  sculptor  since  the  days  of  the  ancients — for  in  purity  of  taste 
and  just  conception  of  the  reach  of  his  art,  he  was  superior  to  Michael  Angelo 
himself — but  the  greatest  original  genius  in  art  that  has  appeared  since  the  sixteenth 
century.  Exhaustless  fertility  of  invention,  a  careful  study  of  nature,,  a  perfect 
appreciation  of  the  antique,  a  style  pure,  severe,  free  from  every  trace  of  manner- 
ism, and  yet  entirely  his  own,  give  him  a  position  which  no  change  or  caprice  of 
fashion  can  effect.  How  he  studied  the  antique  you  can  see  by  comparing  the 
bead  of  the  Christ  with  the  head  of  the  Phidian  Jupiter.  If  you  have  never  seen 
it,  you  will  find  it  among  the  casts  at  the  "  Free  Academy."  Observe  it  well — its 
grandeur,  its  power,  its  serene  and  commanding  beauty — and  then  go  back  to 
Thorwaldsen  and  see  how,  without  the  slightest  trace  of  imitation,  he  has  caught 
the  spirit  of  Phidias.  We  may  claim  for  him,  therefore,  the  right  to  be  studied 
and  not  simply  looked  at.  For  you  see  before  you  a  work  which  has  been  accept- 
ed by  all  as  the  master-piece  of  Christian  statuary.  Look  at  it  as  such,  and  study 
it  till  you  feel  that  it  is.  Many  have  been  disappointed  at  the  first  sight  of  the 
Transfiguration,  but  no  wise  man  ever  doubted  that  the  fault  was  in  himself  and 
not  in  Raphael.  Should  you  fancy  at  first  that  Thorwaldsen,  too,  has  fallen  below 
your  conception,  study  and  wait,  and  as  your  mind  expands  with  the  contempla- 
tion, and  you  begin  to  see  new  beauties  with  each  new  visit,  fe"el  assured  that  you 
have  made  a  great  and  important  step  in  the  appreciation  of  real  art. 


WINES  OF  OHIO. 


rFIIE  production  of  wine  in  the  United  States  is  an  industry  still  in  its  infancy, 
J-  although  in  the  vicinity  of  Cincinnati,  it  has  already  become  an  important 
agricultural  interest.  There  are  specimens  of  Catawba  and  Isabella  wine,  both  still 
and  xparUing,  in  the  Exhibition,  from  several  wine  growers  both  in  Ohio  and  Mis- 
souri, and  the  subject  has  become  one  of  sufficient  interest  in  a  national  point  of 
view,  as  regards  our  future  progress  in  productive  industry,  to  demand  serious  at- 
tention. It  is  only  within  a  few  years  past  that  this  product  has  begun  to  promise 
such  rewards  to  industry  as  to  attract  capitalists  to  make  the  requisite  investments 
to  produce  a  good  wine.  Mr.  N.  Longworth  is  regarded  as  the  pioneer  in  this 
matter,  both  in  planting  vineyards  and  building  cellars  suitable  for  storing  and 
ripening  their  products,  lie  also,  if  we  are  correctly  informed,  produced  the 
first  sparkling  wine  from  the  still  Catawba.  .  • 

The  vine  chiefly  depended  on  in  Ohio  is  the  Catawba,  a  native  of  Buncombe 
County,  in  North  Carolina,  where  it  was  discovered  on  the  banks  of  the  Catawba 
River.  It  is  remarkable  for  the  sweetness  of  its  fruit  andihe  aromatic  flavor  it  pos- 
sesses, lake  the  other  native  grapes  of  this  country,  the  Catawba  has  a  hard  pulp 
surrounding  the  seeds,  the  sweet  and  flavoring  portion  of  the  fruit  being  between  the 
skin  and  the  pulp.  All,  or  nearly  all,  the  grapes  of  the  European  continent  possess  a 
fleshy  substance  like  a  plum,  and  have  no  hard  interior.  The  Malaga  grape, 
so  commonly  sold  in  our  markets,  is  a  good  example  of  the  latter  variety.  All 
the  American  grapes  possess  also,  more  or  less  strongly,  that  peculiar  flavor  so 
well  known  in  the  wild  autumnal  grape  of  the  Northern  States.  In  the  Catawba 
this  flavor  is,  however,  so  subdued  and  modified,  that  it  is  generally  esteemed  the 
peculiar  excellence  of  that  fruit.  This  flavor  is  exactly  reproduced  in  the  wine 
made  from  its  juice,  and  gives  to  it  a  well  marked  and  agreeable  perfume  and 
flavor. 

It  appears  to  be  settled  by  experience;  1st  that  no  foreign  grape  is  suited  to 
wine  growing  in  the  United  States,  and  2d,  that  the  Catawba  vine  is  the  best  for 
thw  purpose  which  has  been  tried.  It  is  an  abundant  bearer,  yields  improved 
crops  on  culture,  and  beside  the  other  qualities  already  named,  it  has  the  power 
of  resisting  to  a  jemarkablp  degreo  the  extreme  vicissitudes  of  temperature  to 
which  it  must  be  subject  in  our  unequal  climate.  For  example,  in  the  winter 
of  1851-52,  on  the  19th  of  January,  the  mercury  sank  to  18°  Fh.,  at  Louisville, 

82 


in  Kentucky,  some  degrees  South  of  Cincinnati,  and  yet  no  harm  was  done  to  the 
vines  by  this  remarkable  degree  of  cold. 

Upon  the  Northern  banks  of  the  Ohio,  near  Cincinnati,  the  soil  and  form  of 
the  ground  are  particularly  favorable  to  the  growth  of  the  vine.  The  soil  is 
a  calcareous  loam,  very  retentive  of  moisture,  and  resting  upon  the  beds 
of  the  lower  Silurian.  The*banks  slope  at  a  high  angle,  and  rise  into  lofty  hills. 
Upon  these  slopes,  exposed  to  the  full  action  of  the  sun  during  the  whole  day,  the 
vines  are  carefully  planted  in  terraces,  and'trained  to  short  stakes  placed  four  or 
five  feet  apart.  These  vine-clad'hills  at  once  recall  to  those  who  have  seen  them, 
the  best  portions  of  the  wine  districts  of  the  Rhone  and  the  Rhine,  but  more  espe- 
cially the  former  in  the  vicinity  of  Chalons.  Most  of  the  vine-dressers  also  are 
foreigners,  Germans  from  the  Rhine,  or  from  Switzerland,  and  French  from  Cen- 
tral France  and  Canton  Vaud,  although  some  of  the  most  successful  cultivators  are 
Americans.  It  requires  six  years  to  bring  a  vineyard  into  full  bearing,  although 
with  roots  of  two  years'  growth  some  wine  may  be  procured  in  two  years  from 
the  planting.  Tlie  juice  of  the  fully  ripe  berries  is  obtained  by  pressure  in'  a 
standing  press,  and  is  suffered  to  proceed  at  once  to  the  alcoholic  fermentation. 
It  is  stated  by  M.  Rebfuss  that  the  must  (sweet  juice)  of  the  Catawba  vine  has  a 
specific  gravity  of  T090,  and  after  fermentation  O992-0'996.  Two  samples  of 
the  still  Catawba  were  sent  to  the  Agricultural  Society  of  France  last  year,  by  M. 
L.  Rehfuss,  President  of  the  American  Vine  Growers'  Association,  and  a  report 
upon  them  by  M.  Payen  has  been  received,  and  is  published  in  the  Western  Hor- 
ticultural Review  for  May  of  this  year,  page  375.  The  examining  commission  were 
MM.  Payen  and  Bourchadat.  The  report  states  that  two  circumstances  require 
particular  attention. 

First,  that  preference  has  been  given  to  the  native  vise.  Secondly,  that  spark- 
ling wine  has  been  produced.  The  American  vines  do  not,  in  France,  prove  good 
bearers,  and  their  strong  and  peculiar  flavor  will  not  be  readily  reconciled  with 
European  palates.  "  The  American  wine  samples,"  the  report  goes  on  to  say, 
"  particularly  recommend  themselves  by  their  neat,  clear  color,  and  their  ability 
to  furnish  carbonic  acid,  and  become  effervescent.  The  Isabella  wine  is  of  n  rose 
color,  has  a  peculiar  perfume,  contains  eleven  per  cent,  of  alcohol,  and  an  abun- 
dance of  sugar.  The  wine  gave  '52  dry  residue,  double  the  quantity  of  our  best 
white  sparkling  wine." 

"  The  Catawba  is  of  a  white  amber  color,  has  less  of  this  strong,  peculiar 
bouquet,  contains  eleven  and  a  half  per  cent,  of  alcohol,  and  a  large  quantity  of 
sugar.  Evaporated  to  dryness  it  left  "61  of  solid  residue,  or  three  times  as  ranch 
as  our  Chablais  wines." 

"  No  doubt  the  wines  in  America  will  soon  be  much  perfected  ;  it  shows  great 
sagacity  that  the  native  vines  received  the  preference  there,  and  particularly  as 
the  sparkling-wines  have  been  produced  from  them." 

A  few  statistical  facts,  derived  from  an  authentic  source,  regarding  the  present 
state  of  this  industry  in  Ohio,  will  be  valuable.  The  number  of  acres  in 
vines  already  bearing  fruit  in  Ohio  is  about  2000,  of  which  1500  are  in  the  im- 
mediate vicinity  of  Cincinnati.  The  average  product  is  reckoned  at  300^gallons 
per  acre.  The  present  price  of  the  still  wine,  as  it  is  sold  by  the  growers,  is  from 
$1  25  to  $2  00  the  gallon.  This  price  makes  the  whole  crop  of  thy  year  worth 
about  a  million  of  dollars,  to  which  may  be  added  the  crude  tartar,  the  brandy 
distilled  from  the  remainder  of  the  press  and  refuse  wine,  as  well  as  the  grapes 
sold  fresh  in  the  market.  It  is  estimated  that  in  six  years  the  product  of  wine 
will  be  at  least  five-fold  the  quantity  named,  in  consequence  of  the  large  surface 
put  under  vines  this  year,  stimulated  by  the  present  high  price  of  wine.  It  will 
be  seen  that  no  crop  which  can  be  raised  on  an  acre  will  bring  more  money  than 
the  vine  at  the  prices  named.  The  manufacture  of  cream  of  tartar  is  also  des- 
tined to  be  an  important  additional  source  of  income. 

This  year  four  commercial  houses  in  Cincinnati  have  prepared,  chiefly  from 
the  Catawba  vine,  over  250,000  bottles  of  sparkling  wine,  worth  $12  the  dozen. 
It  is  asserted  that  the  demand  for  the  Ohio  wines  has  been  such  that  the  wine 
merchants  have  found  it  impossible  to  keep  the  vintages  on  hand  sufficiently  long 
to  permit  them  to  obtain  a  suitable  age. 

For  the  information  of  those  not  acquainted  with  the  mode  of  wine  growing, 
it  will  be  interesting  to  state  that  the  still  or  dry,  and  the  sparkling  wines  are  both 
procured  from  the  same  must  or  juice.  The  only  difference  being,  that  when  the 
primary  fermentation  is  over,  and  tho  dry  or  still  wine  is  produced,  a  certaiD 
small  quantity  of  sugar  candy  is  added  to  it,  and  a  fresh  ferment.  A  second  fer- 
mentation is  thus  set  up,  during  which  the  wine  is  bottled.  This  operation  de- 
mands the  greatest  experience  and  good  judgment,  and  can  be  carried  on  success- 
fully only  when  proper  cellars  of  largo  capacity  are  provided,  within  which  a 
very  equable  and  low  temperature  is  maintained.  During  the  second  fermenta- 
tion the  bottles  are  inverted  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  a  certain  quantity  of 
sediment  (the  result  of  the  fermentation)  in  the  neck.  When  the  brewer  judges 
that  all  this  sediment  is  thrown  down  he  adroitly  cuts  the  strings  of  each  bottle, 
still  inverted,  and  permits  just  so  much  wine  to  escape  as  shall  carry  out  all  the 
sediment.  The  bottle  is  then  set  on  its  Hot,  and  the  deficiency  (which  is  very 
small)  supplied  with  still  wine.  A  new  cork  is  supplied  by  an  ingenious  machine, 
is  wired  in  ita  place,  and  the  bottle  is  stored  on  its  side  in  the  vaults  to  complete 


THE    NEW -YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


its  fermentation,,  which  is  to  supply  that  torrent  of  carbonic  acid  "which  gives 
life  to  the  champagne.  A  large  waste  always  arises  from  the  bursting  of  the 
bottles. 

_  If  the  primary  fermentation  takes  place  upon  the  skins  of  the  grapes,  a  high 
color  and  a  stringency  is  given  to  the  wine,  as  iu  claret. 

M.  Rehftiss  has  promulgated  a  theory  founded  on  his  own  experiments,  which, 
should  it  be  supported  by  experience,  must  be  of  much  importance  to  the  wine 
growers  in  Ohio.  It  is  with  regard  to  the  necessity  of  adding  alkalies,  and  espe- 
cially potash,  to  the  soils  on  which  vines  are  grown,  for  the  purpose  of  favoring 
the  production  of  cream  of  tartar  (acid  tartrate  of  potash)  in  the  growing  fruit. 
The  early  vines^f  Ohio  were  very  acid,  and  on  examining  them  with  a  view  to 
ascertain  the  cause,  M.  Rehfuss  found  that  malic  acid  was  present  in  undue  quan- 
tity. This  organic  acid  forms  very  soluble  salts,  and  does  not  precipitate  by 
alcohol,  while  tartaric  acid  does  the  reverse.  On  a  chemical  examination,  the 
soils  .were  found  deficient  in  potash  salts,  as  compared  with  the  soils  of  European 
vineyards.  Potash  salts  were  added  to  the  soil  of  a  certain  vineyard  by  M.  Reh- 
fuss; the  wine  of  that  year's  growth  was  found  to  be  of  a  superior  quality,  less 
acid,  and  to  form  a  largely  increased  quantity  of  cream  of  tartar.  This  is  a  very 
interesting  problem  in  agricultural  chemistry,  and  should  be  confirmed  by  the 
most  •  careful  experiments. 

From  what  has  been  stated,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  growth  of  wine  in  America 
is  likely  to  become  an  industry  of  great  importance.  It  is  already  much  greater 
in  value  than  was  the  growth  of  cotton  at  the  time  of  Jay's  treaty.  It  is  also  a 
culture  requiring  a^superior  degree  of  skill  in  all  its  branches,  and,  of  course,  calcu- 
lated therefore  to  elevate  the  agricultural  profession.  As  respects  the  moral  in- 
fluence of.this  culture  we  have  nothing  to  say  in  this  place,  save  to  recall  the 
familiar  fact  that  the  wine-growing  regions  of  Europe  are  remarkable  for  their 
temperance,  such  a  thing  as  habitual,  drunkenness  being  almost  unknown. 

Although  this  culture  is  now  confined  chiefly  to  the  vicinity  of  Cincinnati,  it  is 
ujt  necessarily  so.  Large  districts  in  Indiana,  Illinois,  Kentucky,  Missouri,  and 
other  Southern  and  Western  States,  will  be  found  to  have  equal  capabilities  of  soil 
and  climate.  Indeed,  it  is  true  that  the  largest  number  of  exhibitors  of  American 
vines  in  this  Exhibition  are  from  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  but  we  have  less  definite  in- 
formation respecting  the  extent  of  the  culture  there.  Great  improvement  may  be 
expected .  in  the  variety  and  quality  of  the  vines  from  new  discoveries  of  native 
speoies  yet  unobserved,  and  more,  perhaps,  from  the  hybridization  of  those  already 
known. 


WHITWORTH'S  MEASURING  MACHINE. 

fTVHE  measurement  of  so  small  a  quantity  as  the  millionth  part  of  a  linear  inch  is 
-*-  an  achievement  which  must  appear  impossible,  until  the  simplicity  of  the  means 
and  their  easy  manipulation  are  witnessed.  We  have  seen  Mr.  Whitworth's  ap- 
paratus used  in  his  own  hands,  and  propose  to  describe  the  machine  and  its  use, 
and  hope  to  do  so  in  terms  so  plain  as  to  be  intelligible,  without  a  figure,  to  persons 
not  familiar  with  mechanics. 

It  is  well  to  state  that  this  machine  is  the  result  of  a  long  series  of  experi- 
ments to  the  end  of  producing  exact  copies  of  the  standards  of  length.  The 
difficulty  of  meeting  this  problem  in  a  precise  manner  can  hardly  be  conceived  of 
by  those  who  have  not  given  the  subject  their  attention.  Even  in  the  daily 
practice  of  machine-shops,  and  especially  in  the  construction  of  philosophical  ap- 
paratus, and  of  machines  for  accurate  purposes,  it  has  been  hitherto  almost  im- 
possible to  obtain  parts  of  a  given  exact  size.  No  ride,  or  scale,  of  one  work- 
man or  shop,  is  an  exact  copy  of  those  in  use  by  another.  The  thousandth  part 
of  an  inch,  or  even  the  one  hundredth  part,  is  a  quantity  quite  too  small  for 
accurate  admeasurement  by  the  means  heretofore  in  use.  At  the  present  time, 
in  many  important  trades,  it  is  necessary  to  send  the  sample  itself  iu  giving  the 
order,  because  the  manufacturer  is  not  in  possession  of  any  means  to  enable  him 
to  ascertain,  and  therefore  to  express  its  size. 

Now,  Mr.  Whitworth's  machine  exactly  meets  this  difficulty,  and  supplies  the 
workman  with  means  of  the  most  practical  character  to  remedy  it. 

The  yard  is  an  arbitrary  standard  of  measure,  derived  from  the  early  days  of 
civilisation  in  England,  and  like  its  congeners,  the  foot,  the  grain,  the  pennyweight, 
&c,  carries  with  its  very  name  the  evidence  of  its  barbarous  and  unscientific 
origin.  The  Anglo-Saxon  mind  is  so  deeply  conservative,  that  it  liberates  itself 
frqm  the  shackles  of  conventional  usage  (however  unreasonable)  with  extreme 
slowness,  or  not  at  all.  Hence  the  whole  system  of  weights  and»measures,  both  in 
England  and  in  America,  remains,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  made  by  Astronomers 
Royal  and  scientific  Commissions  to  render  it  exact,  rather  a  monument  of  past 
ignorance  than  a  well-digested  system  of  decimal  parts  all  referable  to  some  simple 
.and  absolute  unit,  capable  of  verification  by  means  wholly  independent  of  original 
errore  in  an  arbitrary  standard.  Such  a  system  of  decimal  parts  was  adopted  by 
the  French,  and  has  become  the  language  of  scientific  expression  in  all  countries, 


without  reference  to  the  established  standards  iu  vulgar  use.  But  we  shall  on 
another  occasion  have  more  to  say  upon  the  subject  of  standards  of  weight  and 
measure.  We  alluded  to  the  matter  at  present  only  to  say,  that  in  the  determina- 
tion of  exact  lengths,  two  modes  of  practice  have  been  employed.  One  is  to  make 
the  standard  bar  of  greater  length  than  the  measure  of  the  yard,  for  example,  and 
then  to  represent  the  exact  yard-measure  upon  it  by  lines  of  great  delicacy,  to  be 
observed  by  a  microscope,  and  drawn  at  distances  corresponding  to  different  temper- 
atures. The  other  mode  is  what  is  called  End  Measure.  In  this  method  the  box 
is  designed  to  have  the  exact  length  as  measured  from  the  polished  faces  of  its 
ends,  by  pieces  rebutting  against  them.  In  this  method  also  the  variations  of 
temperature  are  estimated  by  means  of  lines  drawn  upon  the  body  of  another 
bar,  to  which  the  rebutting  pieces  are  attached  in  the  manner  of  a  gauge.  The 
latter  mode  of  measurement  was  adopted  by  the  celebrated  astronomer  Bessel, 
for  the  production  of  the  Prussian  standard,  and  his  apparatus  for  the  purpose 
was  exhibited  at  the  Great  Exhibition  in  1851.  The  governments  of  Russia, 
France,  Prussia,  the  United  States,  and  several  other  nations,  have  adopted  the 
use  of  End  Measure  for  the  production  and  verification  of  their  standards.  Those 
who  may  be  disposed  to  inform  themselves  more  accurately  on  the  mode  of  apply- 
ing this  principle  to  the  verification  of  standards  of  length,  will  find  in  the  May 
and  July  numbers  of  the  American  Journal  of  Science,  a  lucid  and  detailed  ac- 
count of  the  means  employed  in  producing  the  platinum  Standard  Metre,  lately  pre- 
sented by  France  to  the  United  States.  Tljis  metrical  standard  is  also  to  be  seen  in 
the  Crystal  Palace  among  the  instruments  of  the  Coast  Survey,  exhibited  by 
the  distinguished  Superintendent  of  that  body  on  behalf  the  United  States 
government. 

But  to  return  to  Mr.  AVhitworth's  machine.  In  it  he  has  also  adopted  the  prin- 
ciple of  End  Measure.  Two  sliding  bars  of  square  steel  are  placed  in  the  axis  of  a 
block  of  cast-iron,  scarcely  more  than  a  foot  in  length.  They  are  so  con- 
nected with  screws  moving  with  great  accuracy  in  the  axis  of  each,  that  they 
may  be  approached  or  withdrawn  at  pleasure.  One  of  them,  for  the  purpose 
of  explanation,  may  be  considered  as  stationary.  The  screw  which  moves  the 
other  has  exactly  20  turns  to  the  inch.  To  its  head  is  adapted  a  wheel,  upon 
whose  periphery  are  two  hundred  teeth  ;  consequently  one  of  the  spaces  upon  this 
wheel  corresponds  to  the  ^Vr  part  of  an  inch  (20+200=4000).  Now  the  worm 
which  moves  in  the  teeth  of  this  wheel  is  also  provided  with  a  graduated  circle  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  divisions,  and  as  one  entire  revolution  of  this  last  wheel  is  equal 
to  the  -j-j1^  of  an  inch  in  the  motion  of  the  horizontal  bar,  therefore  its  revolu- 
tion through  the  space  of  one  of  its  divisions  will  correspond  to  only  one  two 
hundred  and  fiftieth  of  that  quantity ;  and,  as  two  hundred  and  fifty  times  four 
thousand  is  one  million,  therefore  each  division  of  the  motor  wheel  registers  the 
millionth  of  an  inch  in  the  motion  of  the  horizontal  bars. 

All  this  seems  very  simple  even  iu  the  statement,  but  it  is  abundantly  more  so 
in  practice,  provided,  of  course,  that  the  greatest  accuracy  is  observed  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  several  parts  of  the  apparatus.  It  may  not,  however,  appear  so 
plain  to  one  who  has  not  seen  the  operation  of  the  machine,  how  it  is  possible  to 
arrive  at  any  adequate  expression  of  the  results  by  visible  mechanical  means,  and 
without  the  use  of  a  microscope  to  note  the  advance  and  retreat  of  the  moving 
bar.  Practically,  however,  this  is  accomplished  by  the  most  simple  means. 
Suppose  that  we  have  a  standard  block  of  steel  measuring  exactly  an  inch,  and 
that  it  is  proposed  to  produce  an  exact  copy  of  this  standard.  It  is  necessary  of 
course  to  possess  the  means  of  its  exact  measurement.  For  this  purpose  its  end 
faces  must  be  reduced  to  the  most  perfect  parallelism  and  the  highest  finish. 
It  is  then  laid  on  the  bed  of  the  machine,  and  one  of  its  ends  brought  into  contact 
with  the  fixed  bar.  Here  comes  in  the  simple  and  ellieacions  means  of  determin- 
ing the  point  of  contact  between  the  free  end  of  the  standard  and  the  face  of  the 
approaching  bar.  For  this  purpose  a  little  block  of  steel  is  provided,  called  a 
"  gravity  piece."  Its  faces  are  strictly  parallel,  and  very  perfectly  polished, 
and  it  is  provided  with  two  slender  arms,  by  which  iL  may  be  conveniently 
handled.  It  is  laid  between  the  approaching  faces  of  the  standard  and  of  the 
sliding  bar,  and  when  the  approach  becomes,  apparently  very  close  by  the  slow 
onward  motion  of  the  screw,  the  gravity  piece  is  raised  by  its  handle  from 
time  to  time,  and  let  fall  again.  As  long  as  it  falls  between  the  two  approaching 
faces  without  obstruction  there  is  still  sensible,  though  not  visible  space,  and 
further  approach  is  warranted.  Suppose,  now,  the  motor  wheel  reads  on  its  gra- 
duation 240  degrees,  and  the  gravity  piece  in  that  position  first  falls  slowly  and 
gradually  down  between  the  approaching  cheeks,  then  the  motion  of  the  wheel 
to  241  degrees  binds  the  gravity  piece,  and  it  remains  fixed  wherever  it  may  be 
placed  between  the  adjacent  surfaces.  The  reflex  motion  to  240  releases  it  again, 
and  it  falls  under  the  influence  of  gravity.  Now  the  difference  between  these 
two  quantities  has  already  been  shown  to  be  the  one-millionth  part  of  an  inch. 
And  thus  the  requirements  of  the  problem  are  met,  and  for  the  temperature  of 
the  observation,  the  dimensions  of  the  standard  are  fixed  exactly  and  abso- 
lutely. To  produce  a  copy  which  shall  fill  exactly  the  same  space  is  a  work 
requiring  time,  and  skill,  and  patience,  but  in  no  higher  degree  than  these  re- 
quisites may  be  applied  by  a  multitude  of  good  workmen.  It  will  be  observed 
that  the  graduations  of  the  motor  wheel  supply  the  means  of  accurately  measur- 

88 


THE  INDUSTRY 


OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


ing  the  differences,  and  of  restoring  the  machine  after  each  trial  to  its  original 
point.  It  is  almost  needless  to  add  that  when  accurately  adjusted,  this  apparatus 
is  a  most  delicate  thermometer  :  if,  for  example,  when  it  is  brought  within  two 
or  three  millionths  of  an  inch  of  its  adjustment,  no  part  of  the  apparatus,  near 
the  points  of  measurement,  or  the  standard  or  trial  piece,  can  be  touched  nevor  so 
slightly  by  the  finger  without  at  once  producing  an  expansion  from  heat  that  will 
fasten  the  "gravity  piece."  Groat  caution  is  requirod  to  avoid  error,  from  this 
source,  and  the  measurements  by  this  apparatus  must  be  carried  on  in  an  apart- 
ment of  constant  temperature,  and  with  numerous  precautions  to  prevent  the  heat 
of  the  body  of  the  experimenter  from  interfering  with  the  results  obtained.  . 

The  practical  value  of  this  apparatus  to  mechanics  cannot  be  over-estimated. 
By  its  means,  Mr.  Whitworth  is  enabled  to  supply  workshops  with  graduated  gauges 
of  size,  whose  accuracy  is  absolute.  These  gauges  are  now  the  adopted  standards 
of  the  English  government  in  all  their  dock-yards  and  machine-shops;  and  the 
same  have  been  also  adopted  by  all  the' great  engineering  establishments  of  the 
United  Kingdom,  and  by  them  all  screwing  tackle  and  other  important  parts  of 
machinery  have  been  regulated.  We  shall  take  another  occasion  to  refer  to  Mr. 
Whitworth's  important  improvements  in  screwing  apparatus,  and  to  his  mode  of 
producing  plane  surfaces  of  absolute  accuracy. 

In  conclusion,  it  is  sufficient  to  say  of  the  apparatus  now  under  consideration,  that 
it  famishes  also  the  easy  and  certain  means  of  producing  as  many  identical  copies 
of  the  standard  measures  of  length  as  may  be  required  for  all  the  cities  and 
county  towns  in  the  land,  and  that  such  a  series  made  in  different  metals,  as  for 
example,  in  copper,  steel,  silver,  and  platinum,  ought  to  bo  easily  accessible  for 
verification  of  standards  in  every  important  manufacturing  district.  A  machine 
of  similar  construction,  but  of  a  less  degree  of  precision,  might  be  added  to  every 
engineering  establishment  for  the  actual  measurement  of  important  parts. 
When  it  is  known  that  the  greatest  degree  of  accuracy  heretofore  attained  by  the 
comparison  of  linear  measures  has  been  the  sixty-thousandth  part  of  an  inch,  it 
will  be  understood  that  there  is  considerable  latitude  allowed  between  this  infini- 
tesimal quality  and  the  millionth  of  an  inch. 

It  may  serve  to  give  a  notion  of  the  quantity  expressed  by  the  Toffiwff  °f  an 
inch,  if  -we  make  one  or  two  statements.  The  paper  on  which  this  article  is 
printed  is  about  4000  times  as  thick  as  the  millionth  of  an  inch.  Ordinary  thick 
note  paper  is  about  T^  of  an  inch  thick,  i.  e.  100  sheets  would  measure  an 
inch.  One  million  sheets  of  such  paper  if  piled  on  each  other  would  tower  a 
hundred  feet  above  twice  the  height  of  the  cross  on  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  in 
London. 

The  curious  reader,  who,  after  seeing  this  article,  may  seek  for  Mr.  Whitworth's 
Measuring  Machine  in  the  English  quarter  of  the  Exhibition,  will  doubtless  be 
disappointed  by  the  appearance  of  a  modest-looking  little  apparatus,  under  a  glass 
cover,  which  he  would  otherwise  pass  unnoticed.  Let  him  remember,  then,  that 
we  must  measure  relative  importance  by  results  and  not  by  magnitudes. 


OPENING  OF  THE  NEW-YORK  EXHIBITION. 

IT  is  our  duty  to  record  the  fact  that  the  Inauguration  of  the  building  of  the 
Exhibition  of  TnE  Industry  of  all  Nations  took  place  by  appointment  on 
the  14th  of  July.  The  ceremony  of  the  Inauguration  was  rendered  of  national 
importance  by  the  presence  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and 
several  members  of  liig  Cabinet.  Thus  the  sanction  and  authority  of  the  nation 
were  given  to  crown  the  efforts  of  an  Association  of  spirited  private  gentlemen 
to  whose  untiring  exertions  we  are  indebted  for  the  existence  of  the  Ameri- 
can Exhibition  of  1853.  Wo  shall  not  pursue  the  supererogatory  task  of 
repeating,  what  has  been  well  and  fully  said  by  the  daily  journals,  in  every  possible 
detail,  of  this  peaceful  gathering  and  international  jubilee.  The  proceedings 
of  the  hour  were  in  harmony  with  the  simplicity  of  republican  manners. 

Upon  an  elevated  platform,  and  in  presence  of  the  commissioners  and  rep- 
resentatives of  domestic  and  foreign  governments,  the  officers  of  the  United  States 
Army  and  Navy,  and  numerous  persons  of  distinction,  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  in  his  civil  capacity,  was  received  by  the  President  of  the 
Association. 

The  ceremony  was  opened  by  an  inaugural  prayer  by  Bishop  Wain- 
wright,  of  New-York.  After  which  Mr.  Sedgwick  addressed  President  Pierce 
in  a  short  congratulatory  speech,  expressing  the  obligations  of  the  Associa- 
tion for  his  distinguished  courtesy  in  consenting  to  honor  the  occasion  by  his 
presence. 

To  this  welcome,  President  Pierce  responded,  in  a  manner  the  most 
hearty  and  cordial,  approving  of  the  purposes  of  the  occasion,  and  drawing 
from  the  inspiration  of  the  moment  those  aspirations  for  the  universal  peace 
and  brotherhood  of  nations,  which  were  so  natural  to  'the  occasion. — 
The  beautiful  dome  seemed,  almost  to  rise  in  its*  airy  lightness  as  the  solemn 
measures  of  that  glorious  tune,  "Old    Hundred,"  swelled  in  joyous  praise 

84 


from  a  thousand  voices.  Then  followed  the  triumphal  pamns  from  the 
martial  instruments,  and  the  formality  of  a  state  ceremonial  insensibly  melted 
down  into  the  hearty  personal  congratulations  offered  by  thousands  to  the  chief 
Magistrate  of  the  United  States.  9 
The  remaining  hours  of  the  day  passed  rapidly  in  surveying  those  portions  of  the 
Exhibition  already  prepared,  and  in  witnessing  the  active  preparations  for  its 
early  completion.  None  were  admitted  on  this  occasion  but  invited  guests,  * 
exhibitors,  and  holders  of  season  tickets.  It  was  estimated  that  ten  thousand 
persons  were  present.  All  were  amazed  at  the  rapid  changes  which  the  last 
few  days,  and  especially  the  last  twenty-four  hours,  had  made  in  completing 
the  preparations  of  the  Exhibition.  The  decoration  of  the  int^ior  of  the  dome, 
from  which  the  scaffolding  had  been  removed  only  that  morning,  excited  universal 
admiration,  as  well  for  the  beauty  of  its  effect  as  for  the  short  space  of  time  in 
which  it  had  been  completed.  The  parts  of  the  building  unfinished  on  the  day 
of  the  inauguration  were  the  new  wing  and  its  appendages,  extending  the  entire 
length  of  the  Croton  Reservoir.  In  this  wing  are  to  be  arranged  the  machinery' 
in  motion,  and  models  of  machines  not  in '  motion,  the  mineralogical  and 
mining  cabinets,  the  picture  gallery  extending  the  whole  length  (451  feet  by  21) 
over  the  machine  arcade  and  the  refreshment-rooms.  Undoubtedly  the  general 
effect  and  impression  of  the  whole  Exhibition  would  have  been  far  better  if  it 
could  have  been  entirely  ready  in  all  parts  before  the  day  of  inauguration. 
But  this  was  impossible;  unexpected  and  unavoidable  delays  arose  in  con- 
struction :  and  we  may  add,  the  Exhibitors  themselves — many  of  them  from 
far  distant  countries — were  fully  as  much  in  arrear  as  the  "building.  Indeed, 
at  this  present  moment  (July  30th),  numerous  important  shipments  of  for- 
eign goods  are  still  on  the  Atlantic.  The  Great  Exhibition  in  London,  although 
(and  this  was  its  greatest  wonder)  opened  on  the  day  appointed,  was  not 
in  order  until  August.  The  Dublin  Exhibition  of  this  year  lias  the  same 
history.  We  shall  see  whether  French  system  and  skill  can  show  us  a  bet-  , 
ter  example  in  1855. 

The  hand  Catalogue  of  the  Exhibition  and  the  first  double  number  of 
the  Illustrated  Record  were  distributed  on  the  day  of  the  inauguration, 
and  the  printing  presses  were  actively  throwing  off  the  sheets  of  tli«  Catalogue. 

On  the  15th  of  July,  the  New- York  Exhibition  was  thrown  open  to  the 
public,  and  will  remain  open  as  long  as  the  season  will  permit.  TJie  ques- 
tion is  often  asked  if  it  will  be  reopened  another  season.  To  this  inquiry 
no  definite  answer  can  as  yet  be  given. 

On  the  evening  of  the  15th,  the  Association  entertained  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  his  Cabinet,  the  representatives  of  foreign  govern- 
ments, the  Commissioners  of  Great  Britain,  the  Domestic  Commissioners,  and 
numerous  invited  guests,  at  a  sumptuous  banquet  at  the  Metropolitan  Hotel. 
Great  good  feeling  animated  the  occasion,  and  numerous  speeches  were  made 
by  the  distinguished  gentlemen  who  responded  to  the  several  sentiments 
announced.  Without  departing  from  the  strict  line  which  we  have  drawn 
for  ourselves,  between  the  record  of  this  exhibition  and  the  daily  journals 
whose  duty  it  is  to  reproduce  every  detail  of  passing  events,  we  do  not  hes- 
itate to  give,  from  a  copy  corrected  by  its  distinguished  author,  a  part  of 
the  speech  of  Sir  Charles  Lyell  in  reply  to  a  toast  on  this  occasion  compli- 
mentary to  the  English  Commission. 

"  Gentlemen : — This  is  the  fourth  visit  which  I  have  made  to  your  coun- 
try, and  it  is  only  by  returning,  after  intervals  of  a  few  years,  that  we  can 
mark  the  wonderful  progress  which  the  people  are  making  in  knowledge, 
power,  and  general  prosperity.  It  is  indeed  a  cheering  sight  for  any  for- 
eigner to  witness — I  say  a  foreigner,  but  wherever  I  have  travelled  in  your 
country,  whether  mixing  with  men  engaged  in  the  same  scientific  pursuits, 
or  when  I  was  only  known  as  a  traveller,  I  have  never  been  allowed  to 
feel  myself  a  foreigner.  Yet,  strange  to  say,  this  is  the  first  time  I  have 
ever  visited  the  United  States  without  finding  the  whole  Press,  and  some- 
times Congress,  engaged  in  the  discussion  of  exciting  political  questions,  which 
seemed  to  endanger  the  amicable  relations  between  this  country  and  my  own. 
In  1841  and  1842  there  was  the  McLeod  case,  and  no  small  agitation  among 
the  New-York  and  Canadian  borderers.  Then,  in  1845-46,  there  was  the 
Oregon  boundary  question,  •  which  lasted  during  my  whole  stay,  when  I  saw 
the  walls  of  this  and  many  a  western  town  and  city  placarded  with  '  fifty- 
four,  forty — or  fight.' 

"After  an  interval  of  six  years,  I  returned  in  1852,  and  found  what  would 
be  termed  on  the  African  coast  a  "  war  palaver,"  going  on  about  the  fisheries. 

"  Some  timid  friends  warned  me,  before  starting  from  Liverpool,  not  to  rim 
the  risk  of  geologizing  at  the  foot  of  the  sea  cliffs  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  lest  a 
stray  cannon  shot  from  one  of  the  contending  squadrons  should  put  an  abrupt 
termination  to  my  geological  labors.  By  that  time,  however,  I  had  begat 
to  have  faith  in  the  peaceful  issues  of  British  and  American  negotiations, 
and  was  not  easily  alarmed.  Now,  at  last,  I  come  and  hear  no  sounds  but 
those  of  harmony  and  peace.  We,  at  least,  who  are  engaged  in  this  Indus- 
trial Exhibition,  may  regard  ourselves  as  members  of  a  great  peace  associa- 
tion, though  few  of  us  may  indulge  any  sanguine  hopes  of  the  future  cessa- 


THE    NEW -  YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


tion  of  wars.  Would  that  we  could  follow  the  noble  example  set  us  by  the 
greatest  people  of  antiquity,  who  gave  a  safe  pass  to  all  who  attended  the 
Olympic  Games,  and  more  especially  to  the  Envoys  or  Commissioners  sent  to 
represent  each  State. 

"  War  was  not  allowed  to  interfere  with  the  celebration  qf  those  festivals, 
and  the  truce  lasted  for  a  month.    I  have  often  wondered,  when  reading  the 
history  of  those  olden  times,  that  the  Olympic  Games  should  have  endured 
for  eleven  centuries,  and  that,  so  many  of  the  leading  statesmen  and  lawgiv- 
ers of  Greece  should  have'  attached  such  importance  to  them,  as  to  award 
peculiar  honors  to  those  citizens  who  canned  off  the  prizes.    But  a  philo- 
sophical historian  of  our  times,  Mr.  Grote,  has  solved  this  problem,  and  shown 
that  there  was  a  deeper  meaning  in  these  multitudinous  gatherings  than 
appeared  to  a  cursory  observer.    It  was  not  for  the  encouragement  of  ath- 
letic exercises  or  chariot-racing  that  they  promoted  these  festivals.    The  games 
embraced  many  of  the  objects  of  our  modern  exhibitions.    We  hear  of  prizes 
awarded  to  the  inventors  of  new  musical  instruments.    We  are  told  of  the 
recitation  of  new  musical  compositions,  as  well  as  of  poems  and  of  histories. 
Hut  besides  all  this,  there  was  much  of  the  same  business  transacted  that  is 
carried  on  here,  in  Wall-street,  or  on  Change  in  London.     There  was  much 
buying  and  selling,  and  advertising,  and  many  commercial  transactions,  at  a  time 
when  there  were  no  newspapers ;  and  all  this  between  the  citizens  of  states 
as  far  distant  from  each  other,  if  we  reckon  by  time  before  the  days  of 
steamboats  and  railways,  as  Europe  and  America  now  are.    But  neither  the 
amusement  and  instruction  afforded  by  these  meetings,  nor  even  their  com- 
mercial bearing,  were  the  sole,  or  even  the  principal  ends  achieved  by  such 
periodical  gatherings.    Greece  was  divided,  like   the  United  States,  into  a 
multitude  of  independent  commonwealths  and  cities,  each  jealous  of  her  state 
rights,  each  averse  to  centralisation,  but  not  prevented  like  the  members  of 
your  confederation  from  warring  with  one  another.    It  was  the  aim,  says 
Grote,  of  the  leading  politicians  of  Greece  to  give  to  the  people  of  states, 
politically  dissevered,*  opportunities  of  exchanging  courtesies  and  hospitalities, 
of  comparing   the  progress  they  had  made   in  knowledge  and  civilisation ; 
and  above  all,  of  cherishing  a  sentiment  of  Pan-Hellenic  unity. 

"■  Gentlemen,  your  •Chairman,  in  proposing  the  last  toast,  has  eulogized  the 
illustrious  Prince  whom  he  has  styled  the  originator  of  the  first  international 
exhibition — that  of  London  in  1851 ;  and  you  have  responded  to  the  toast 
with  an  enthusiasm  most  grateful  to  the  feelings  of  every  Englishman  here 
present.  The  London  Exhibition  had  a  more  cosmopolitan  aim  than  that  of 
combining  together  the  states  of  one  great  confederacy,  or  two  nations, 
politically  independent,  yet  speaking  in  common  the  language  of  Shakspere. 
It  was  the  first  attempt  to  establish  an  exhibition  in  which  nations  differ- 
ing in  language,  religious  creeds,  and  political  institutions  should  co-operate 
in  friendly  rivalry — an  arena  where  all  should  compete  for  distinction  in  the 
application  of  the  principles  of  science  to  machinery,  and  in  the  fine  arts,  and 
in  their  application  to  manufacturing  industry. 

"  If  a  series  of  industrial  exhibitions,  on  such  a  cosmopolitan  plan,  can  be 
so  arranged  as  not  to  interfere  with  one  another,  let  us  hope  that  they  may 
acquire  perpetuity,  and  last  not  only  for  eleven,  but  for  eleven  times  eleven 

...  '|B 

centuries. 

Tiie  fine  allusion  which  Sir  Charles  has  here  made  to  the  ancient  games  as 
in  some  degree  parallel  to  these  modern  industrial  gatherings  is  new  to  us, 
and  seenis  to  have  escaped  all  the  ready  writers,  who,  in  lectures  and  essays 
innumerable,  gave  us  every  conceivable  phase  of  the  Loadon  Exhibition.  The 
aspiration  with  which  this  distinguished  gentleman  concludes  his  speech  will, 
it  is  certain,  find  a  warm  response  in  every  genial  heart. 


THE  .EQUESTRIAN  STATUE  OF  WASHINGTON. 

BARON  MAROCHETTI'S  Washington  is  certainly  the  largest  work  of  art  in 
the  American  Exhibition,  and  did  magnitude  decide  merit,  this  Colossus  would, 
without  doubt,  distance  all  competition. 

Without  requiring  our  modern  artists  to  equal  the  Marcus  Aurelius  of  the 
Capitol,  at  Rome,  the  Phidian  Horses  of  the  Quiriual,  or  the  Grecian  Horses  of  the 
Parthenon,  we  have  a  right  to  expect  that  they  will  neither  copy  themselves,  nor 
do  violence  to  nature.    In  our  judgment,  Baron  Marochetti  has  done  both,  of  which* 
more  anon. 

Baron  Marochetti  is  a  native  of  Piedmont,  long  resident^  France  (at  Veaux, 
about  forty  miles  from  Paris),  but  now  established  in  London.  His  equestrian 
statue  of  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion,  which  was  exhibited  in  London  in  1851,  obtained 
a  council  medal.  Marochetti  belongs  to  the  French,  rather  than  to  the  Italian 
school  of  art,  and  has  imbibed  largely,  even  if  he  has  not  exaggerated  the  defects 
of  his  school. 

An  Equestrian  Statue  of  Washington  is  a  fitting  commemoration  of  him  who 
• 


passed  so  large  a  part  of  his  active  life  in  the  saddle,  and  whose  military  achieve* 
ments  have  never,  until  lately,  received  this  tribute  at  the  hands  of  the  sculptor. 
Baron  Marochetti  has  the  advantage  of  being  first  in  the  field,  at  least  the  first 
whose  work  has  been  brought  under  the  observation  of  Washington's  countrymen. 
It  is  well  known  that  Crawford  has  already  modelled  a  colossal  equestrian  Wash- 
ington in  Rome,  as  the  crowning  figure  of  the  monument  now  erecting  by  the 
State  of  Virginia,  at  Richmond,  in  commemoration  of  her  illustrious  sons  of  the 
Revolution.  If  we  are  rightly  informed,  this  figure  has  been  already  cast  in  bronze, 
at  Munich. 

More  recently  the  U.  S.  Cpngress  has  authorized  the  President  of  the  United 
States  to  contract  for  an  Equestrian  Washington  in  bronze,  to  adorn  the  national 
Capitol ;  and,  within  these  few  days,  we  are  informed  by  the  daily  journals,  that 
Mr.  Clark  Mills  has  been  commissioned  to  undertake  this  great  national  work, 
for  the  sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars.  Mr.  Mills's  claim  to  this  honorable  dis- 
tinction over  the  heads  of  Powers,  Crawford,  and  other  American  sculptors  of 
established  reputation,  rests  solely  upon  his  Jackson,  a  work  of  which,  as  it  is  not 
a  part  of  the  American  Exhibition  of  1853,  we  are  relieved  from  the  responsibility 
of  speaking.  From  this  historical  digression,  growing  naturally  out  of  the  theme 
of  our  criticism,  we  return  to  our  subject.  * 

On  page  25,  we  present  a  large  print  of  Baron  Marochetti's  work ;  and  we 
believe  that  no  one  who  has  seen  the  original,  can  say  that  it  does  not  do  it  full 
justice,  while  others  may  think  with  us,  that  in  several  important  particulars,  it  lias 
merits  which  the  original  has  not.  With  the  assistance  of  this  engraving,  a 
minute  description  of  the  statue  will  be  superfluous.  It  stands  directly  under  the 
centre  of  the  dome,  just  where,  in  obedience  to  a  proper  patriotic  sentiment,  it 
ought  to  stand,  as  th#  boldest  feature  of  the  American  Exhibition.  It  is  in  plaster 
colored,  to  represent  bronze,  and  the  dimensions  of  the  figures  are  twice  and  a  half 
times  the  size  of  life. 

Entering  the  Crystal  Palace  on  the  Sixth  Avenue,  the  observer,  as  he  walks 
down  the  nave,  obtains  the  most  favorable  impression  of  this  work.  In  that  posi- 
tion, the  group  is  foreshortened,  and  the  chief  faults  of  the  composition  are 
concealed.  There  is  a  certain  commanding  dignity  in  the  figure  of  Washington, 
some  spirit  and  movement  in  the  horse,  and  that  general  air  of  grandeur  which  is 
inseparable  from  its  colossal  proportions.  The  head  of  the  horse  even,  in  this  posi- 
tion appears  as  if  violently  reined  in  for  no  apparent  reason,  although  the  reins 
hang  loosely  on  his  neck,  while,  on  nearer  approach,  the  defects  before  con- 
cealed, become  more  apparent.  Short,  and  clumsy  legs  inelegantly  thrust  within- 
boots  still  more  clumsy,  huge  exaggerations  of  holsters,  and  the  cocked  hat, 
unite  in  producing  a  most  unpleasing  effect.  The  countenance  of  the  rider  lacks 
the  noble  sentiment  of  the  original,  so  well  expressed  by  Stuart  and  Trumbull. 

The  action  of  the  group,  from  a  side  view,  appears  both  equivocal  in  character 
and  bad  in  expression.  The  horse  seems  to  be  still,  and  yet  to  move ;  the  position 
of  the  fore  and  hind  legs  being  contradictory.  A  horse  pawing  the  air  with  his 
fore  leg,  must  needs  keep  the  other  three  legs  on  the  ground,  and  yet  he  raises 
here  his  alternate  hind  leg,  as  if  to  trot.  The  line  of  the  neck  is  harsh  and  con- 
strained, and  is  only  less  objectionable  than  the  equivocal  character  of  the  tail. 
The  body  is  clumsy  despite  its  artistic  meagreness,  and  partakes  in  no  degree  of  the 
motion  of  the  legs.  Washington,  it  is  well  known,  was  one  of  the  most  graceful  of 
horsemen — a  true  Virginian,  familiar  with  horses  from  his  childhood,  and  as  mHch 
at  ease  in  the  saddle  as  in  his  chair.  But  here  we  have  a  stiff,  ungraceful  figure, 
braced  back  in  the  saddle,  with  the  precision  of  a  dragoon  under  the  eye  of 
his  drill-master.  In  short,  it  is'  not  a  statue  of  Washington,  but  a  huge  man  on  a  •  • 
huge  horse,  whicn  one  may  call  Wellington,  or  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  or  any  oth£r 
hero  of  history.  We  do  not  say  that  its  likeness  to  Washington  is  not  such  that 
it  would  not  be  known  as  intended  for  him,  for  his  square  chin  and  peculiar  features 
are  so  characteristic,  that  the  potter  never  fails  to  reproduce  them  on  a  shilling  jug. 

As  a  specimen  .of  mere  execution,  it  has  some  good  points  and  well-modelled 
details — a  certain  facility  which  long  practice  necessarily  gives ;  though  even  in 
this  we  consider  that  there  is  a  general  character  of  dryness  and  hardness  through- 
out it,  which  gives  as  unfavorable  an  idea  of  the  artist's  practical  skill  as  the 
general  arrangement  does  of  his  powers  of  invention.  Throw  aside  all  ideas  of 
moral  grandeur  and  personal  dignity ;  forget  that  the  subject  is  not  some  other 
hero  on  horseback,  but  is  Washington  ;  look  only  for  minute  details  and  petty  excel- 
lencies, and  we  may  find  something  to  approve.  But  if  we  believe  that  sculpture 
is  something  more  than  the  art  of  modelling;  that  the  great  thoughts  which 
express  themselves  upon  the  human  face,  and  communicate  their  grandeur  to  the 
human  form,  can  be  fitly  chiselled  in  marble  or  in  bronze,  we  shall  find  little  in 
the  work  before  us  to  claim  our  praise. 

And  the  reason  of  this  is  evident.  A  monumental  statue  is  the  highest  form  of 
sculpture.  It  requires  imagination,  invention,  that  just  conception  of  character 
which  distinguishes  the  highest  forms  of  poetry — a  perfect  command  of  all  the  re- 
sources of  art,  and  that  facility  of  execution  which,  by  giving  the  truth  of  Nature 
to  the  minutest  details,  makes  us  forget  the  apparent  exaggeration  of  colossal  propor- 
tions. We  say  apparent,  for  in  reality  there  is  notning  more  exaggerated  in  a  colos- 
sal statue  than  in  a  description  in  verse.  Neither  Hamlet  nor  Lear  speak  the  lan- 
guage of  common  life,  and  yet  we  admire  them  as  much  for  their  truth  of  thought 

35 


 1  

THE    INDUSTRY    OP    ALL  NATIONS. 


and  sentiment,  as  for  poetical  beauty.  The  untrained  mind  must  be  formed  to 
them  before  it  can  really  understand  them,  and  the  untrained  eye  may  be  formed 
with  equal  ease  to  the  appreciation  of  art  even  in  a  colossal  statue.  The  artist's 
imagination  glows  and  expands  like  the  poet's,  and  we  must  let  our  own  follow  him. 
The  artist,  to  move  you  to  poetical  exultation,  must  ho  n  poet  himself;  and  it  is  for 
this  reason,  and  for  this  alone,  that  monumental  statues  fail  constantly  of  their  effect. 
No  one  ever  asked  himself  any  thing  about  proportions  before  Thorwaldsen's  Coper- 
nicus ;  for  he  felt  at  once  that  the  figure  before  him  -was  a  fitting  embodiment  of 
a  mighty  spirit  which  had  looked  so  deeply  into  the  mysteries  of  the  starry  uni- 
verse. It  is  like  Shakspeare's  Hamlet,  or  Homer's  Achilles,  an  adequate  expres- 
sion of  a  powerful  conception ;  and  it  is  from  this  conception  that  the  artist,  like 
the  poet,  must  start.  No  merit  of  poetical  imagery  can  cover  up  defects  of  inven- 
tion, and  no  skill  of  manipulation  can  make  an  imaginary  figure  look  a  hero.  AVe 
admire  monumental  statues;  wo  believe  them  to  bo  one  of  the  best  ways  of 
keeping  the  memory  of  great  men  before  the  posterity  for  whom  they  labored. 
We  would  spread  them  over  our  country ;  we  would  have  them  in  every  park  and 
in  every  square ;  wo  would  place  them  in  niches  on  the  fronts  of  our  public 
edifices ;  we  would  have  them  to  look  down  upon*  in  the  midst  of  our  public 
assemblies,  speaking  to  us  with  the  solemn  eloquence  of  marble,  of  the  great  things 
which  have  been  done  for  ns. 

But  not  in  park,  or  niche,  or  hall,  would  we  erect  such  monumental  statues  as 
the  "Washington  of  Baron  Marochetti. 


CARY'S  ROTARY  PUMP. 


NUMEROUS  inventors  have  produced  still  more  numerous  contrivances 
for  throwing  water  by  a  continuous  rotary  movement,  without  the  action 
of  reciprocal  pistons.  The  machine  before  us,  by  a  most  ingenious  arrange- 
ment of  parts,  unites  the  seemingly  incompatible  conditions  of  a  progressive 
rotary  motion,  with  a  reciprocal  action  of  pistons,  kept  tight  by-  the  pressure  of 
the  fluid  ejected.  The  inventor  is  Mr.  Albigenoe  W.  Cart,  of  Brockport,  Mon- 
roe county,  N.  Y.    Not  less  than  eleven  of  his  pumps  of  various  sizes,  and  adapted 


to  several  important  purposes,  may  be  seen  arranged  in  the  Machine  Arcade 
of  the  Exhibition.  A  distinct  flow  of  water  has  been  provided  from  the  main  in 
Forty  second  street  to  supply  their  demands,  and  all  visitors  will  have  an  oppor- 
tunity, as  soon  as  the  machinery  is  put  in  motion,  to  observe  their  performance.  It 
is  not  possible  from  a  sectional  drawing  only,  to  convey  a  clear  notion  of  all  the 
parts  of  this  very  remarkable  apparatus ;  but  with  the  aid  of  snch  explanations  as 
a  knowledge  of  its  parts  will  enable  us  to  supply,  we  hope  that  its  principle  of 
action  will  be  made  sufficiently  clear.  The  general  appearance  of  Cary's  pump 
i«  shown  in  the  elevation-view  annexed.    A  strong  frame  of  iron  supports  a 


horizontal  shaft,  on  one  end  of  which  is  a  band-pulley  for  communicating  power, 
and  on  the  other  the  pump,  whose  delivery  pipe  is  toward  the  observer.  The 
suction  pipe  is  seen  descending  on  the  right  between  the  legs  of  the  frame  to  the 
source  of  supply.  Some  idea  of  the  disposition  of  the  interior  may  be  gained  from 
the  sectional  view  here  given  on  a  larger  scirie.  The  sectional  plane  passes  through 
the  median  line  of  the  pump,  and  parallel  to  the  sides.  The  width  of  the  pump, 
in  relation  to  its  diameter,  is  about  as  1 :  3.  The  central  drum  B  (of  brass  or  iron)  is  at- 
tached to  the  axis  or  revolving  spindle  A,  and  moves  with  it.  The  heart-shaped 
cam  surrounding  A  is  fixed  in  an  immovable  position.  The  revolution  of  I?  there- 
fore causes  the  valves  or  pistons, C  g  to  move  in  and  out  in  obedience  to  the  form 
of  the  cam,  which  constantly  presses  against  their  lower  ends,  guided  by  the  slides 
whose  position  is  given  in  the  drawing.  This  cam  is  so  placed,  that  one  of  the 
valves  is  constantly  driven  with  a  gentle  pressure  fully  into  the  <  ,'tvity  of  the 
chamber,  forcing  before  it  the  water  already  there,  and  drawing  after  it.  through 
the  suction  pipe  F  the  stream  of  supply,  to  compensate  the  vacuum.  Each  valve 
is  in  succession  forced  fully  back  into  its  groove,  or  seat,  w  hen  opposite  to  K, 
which  is  called  the  lutt  piece  of  the  exhaust  and  supply  ways,  and  w  hich  i<  i  isde 
tight  by  a  leather  packing  D.  An  attentive  consideration  of  this  arrangement 
will  show  that  each  sliding  valve  or  piston,  in  its  turn,  performs  the  double  func- 
tion of  forming  the  vacuum,  and  forcing  out  the  water  previously  collected  in  the 
chamber  of  the  pump,  and  that  as  soon  as  the  first  valve  or  piston  becomes  inop- 
erative, the  position  of  the  cam  is  such  as  to  bring  the  second  valve  into  full  action. 
The  direction  of  the  flow  is  indicated  by  the  arrows,  and  the  entrance  of 
mechanical  obstructions  is  prevented  by  a  perforated  screen  over  the  supply  pipo  F, 
that  portion  of  the  curve  immediately  over  F  being  pierced  with  numerous  holes. 
Should  an  obstructing  object  enter  the  pump  box,  however,  it  is  immediately 
ejected  by  reversing  for  an  instant  the  motion  of  the  machine. 

The  cam  and  some  other  parts  of  this  apparatus  have  been  used  before  in 
other  rotary  pumps,  although  not  combined  in  the  same  way.  But  the  pecu- 
liarity which  insures  its  originality  and  success  is  yet  to  be  mentioned.  It  is 
the  peculiar,  efficient,  and  very  simple  manner  in  which  the  pistons  are  packed, 
as  well  as  the  mechanical  construction  of  the  revolving  drumB,  to  insure  at  once 
easy  motion,  and  to  cut  off  the  access  of  the  external  air.  To  compass  the  first 
object,  the  walls  of  the  valve  slides  are  pierced  by  several  small  holes,  through 
which  the  revolution  of  the  drum  forces  the  water  into  an  interior  cavity,  where 
it  presses  equally  and  gently  upon  the  underside  of  the  leather  packing,  with 
which  the  contact  surfaces  of  the  pistons  are  faced.  These  pieces  of  leather  slide 
into  dovetailed  grooves  provided  for  them,  and  may  be  fitted  anew  in  a  moment 
with  no  other  tool  than  a  sharp  knife.  We  remember  no  contrivance  of 
a  mechanical  nature  which  strikes  us  as  more  admirable,  than  the  mode  in  which 
Mr.  Caryhas  packed  his  sliding  valves  so  as  to  insure  ease  of  motion,  perfect  tight- 
ness as  a  necessary  consequence  of  the  action  of  the  machine  itself,  and  lastly, 

the  facility  wjth 
which  these  essen- 
tial parts  may,  on 
occasion,  be  renew- 
ed by  persona  of 
very  moderate  man- 
ual skill.  Where  all 
others  have  failed, 
viz.,  in  securing 
tightness,  ease  of 
motion,  durability, 
and  efficient  lubrica- 
tion (without  resort 
to  the  usual  means 
of  lubrication),  in 
the  valvular  parts  of 
a  rotary  pump,  Mr. 

Cary  has1  succeeded  in  a  manner  seemingly  to  leave  little  to  be  desired.  The  man- 
ner in  which  the  edges  of  the  revolving  drum  are  fitted  into  deep  grooves  turned 
in  the  head-pieces  of  the  pump,  would  require  another  drawing  in  order  to  be 
made  intelligible;  and  as  this  is  not  requisite  for  a  clear  idea  of  the  chief  features 
of  the  apparatus,  we  pass  this  portion  of  the  construction  without  further  remark. 

A  stream  of  water  has  been  thrown  in  an  unbroken  column  from  this  pump, 
through  an  orifice  one  and  a  quarter  inches  diameter,  to  the  surprising  distance 
of  180  feet.  The  pump  performing  this  service  was  14  inches  in  diameter, 
revolving  120  revolutions  in  a  minute,  and  delivering  300  gallons  in  the  same  time. 
This,  we  believe,  to  be  a  higher  service  than  has  been  before  attaflcd  by  any  re- 
ciprocating pump  o^imilar  dimensions. 

Owing  to  tho  easy  accessibility  of  its  parts,  the  whole  machinery  being  above 
board,  it  appears  peculiarly  well  adapted  for  the  marine  service,  and  we  are  in- 
formed that  they  are  now  preferred  by  shipmasters,  and  in  marine  construction. 

It  is  asserted  that  with  metallic  packings  this  apparatus  may  be  successfully 
used  as  a  rotary  steam  engine.  But  we  have  not  seen  it  used  for  this  purpose, 
and  can  therefore  only  repeat  this  statement  of  its  inventor. 


so 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


THE  BENEFITS  OF  TEE  EXHIBITION  TO  AMERICAN  ART. 


C/jJ^xlp  ^^m^  HERE  may  be  much,  good  derived  by  our 

SvJW|fj^V^",*S|wJ        artists  and  artisans  from  inspecting  the  works 

r-iea>.  jfT  f>  \iu^?4    urAt     °^^rt'n  fcne  Crystal  Palace,  and  such  objects 
UH^t  ^  jl^P     comprise  about  nine-tenths  of  the  articles  ex- 
^^^6s/^uJ^' v^^^^\_  hibited,  but  the  benefit  to  Art  will  depend 
■^f^^C^Cr  C^^^^V  ®M  vel^  mucu  llPon  tue  degree  of  intelligence  with 
(2  wuMfrnX  ^f)  ffi\f<$^k^^'  w^"cn  tnc  Exhibition  is  examined.    If  those 
»3v  ^fc \  ^rm Wrnu  ifBSMSlLi     who  visit  the  Crystal  Palace,  with  tin.- hope 
^BS^«^f-V/ <t«  ^tTlif^      of  improvement,  aim  at  nothing  higher  than 
JfS^M  WfiftS^  '■\f^j%       mere  mechanical  copying,  very  little,  if  any, 

benefit  will  be  derived  from  the  Exhibition  ; 
V^'^JfJ^%  %*  but,  if  they  go  to  gain  new  ideas,  to  acquire  a 

^s^SS      knowledge  of  new  methods  of  construction,  to  bring  away 
|S  £/\  T^^k/M  what  is  good,  and  to  avoid  what  is  bad,  the  result  will  be 
W  l!v  SH/ftM^  in  the  highest  degree  favorable  to  the  cause  of  art-manu- 
jW      facture  in  the  United  States.    Imitation  is  the  bane  of  Art, 
'""V^/^-  and  its  destructive  influences  may  be  very  palpably  discover- 

i  fSk  ec*  m  tne  wor^s  exhibited  in  the  Italian  department.  The 

Vtfj/  great  collections  in  Italy  of  the  thef  floweret  of  the  old  masters,  are 
/t£*lL  at  once  the  glory  and  degradation  of  the  people.  The  Italians  have 
?.-  done  nothing,  the  past  hundred  years,  but  attempt  to  reproduce 

the  works  of  the  great  masters  of  art,  and  have  so  repressed  the  spirit  of  inven- 
tion, that  they  have  at  last  become  inferior  to  all  other  people,  even  as  copyists. 
There  is  but  one  hope  for  Italy,  and  that  is  in  the  utter  destruction  of  all  the 
great  works  of  Art,  which  now  lie  like  an  incubus  on  the  genius  of  the  peo- 
ple. The  idolatrous  veneration  for  antique  Art,  is  not  alone  confined  to  the  Ita- 
lians ;  but  it  is  most  oppressive  there,  because  it  is  there  that  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  the  relics  of  Art  are  treasured. 

Art  has  but  two  missions  to  fulfil,  one  is  to  be  useful,  and  the  other  ornamental. 
Under  the  head  of  useful  Art,  must  be  classed  all  works  that  contribute  to  the 
comfort  of  mankind,  that  teach  ideas,  or  perpetuate  the  memory  of  events.  Or- 
namental Art  is  that  which  overlays  and  embellishes  works  of  utility,  and  it  is  to 
this  department  of  industry  which  all  works  of  fine  Art  now  tend.  A  slight  in- 
spection of  the  different  departments  of  the  Crystal  Palace  will  be  sufficient  to  show 
that  of  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  the  French  have  the  truest  artistic  instincts, 
and  turn  their  attainments  in  Art  to  the  most  profitable  account.  The  whole 
wealth  and  prosperity  of  France  lies  in  her  ornamental  art-manufactures.  We 
import  our  painted  church  windows  from  Germany,  our  copies  of  antique  Art 
from  Italy,  our  solid  and  substantial  cloths  and  implements  from  England,  but  all 
our  ornamented  goods,  such  as  derive  their  chief  value  from  the  genius  of  the 
artist,  we  import  from  France.  The  art-manufactures  of  France  are  purely  creative, 
their  raw  materials  are  nought^  The  artistic  pre-eminence  of  the  French  people 
is  not  the  result  of  an  accident,  nor  owing  to  any  peculiar  organization  of  the 
French  man,  but  the  natural  effect  of  wise  laws  which  have  been  framed  to  secure 
this  great  end.  Under  all  the  changes  of  French  government,  monarchical,  republican, 
imperial,  and  anarchical,  the  institutions  for  the  promotion  of  Art  have  been  alike 
fostered,  and  artists  have  been  alike  by  all  honored.  The  artist  there,  whose  genius 
adds  to  the  glory  of  the  country,  is  considered  as  worthy,  and  as  much  entitled,  to 
the  honors  of  the  government,  as  the  soldier,  or  the  sailor,  who  gains  a  victory ; 
and  this,  too,  in  the  most  military  nation  in  Europe ;  while  among  us,  the  least 
military  of  any  civilised  people,  the  artist  is  treated  as  a  vagabond,  and  his  exist- 
ence is  ignored  by  the  government,  while  the  soldier  and  the  sailor  receive  the 
highest  honors  that  the  nation  can  bestow. 

In  French  Art,  it  will  be  seen,  by  those  who  examine  the  painted  porcelain, 
the  bronze  castings,  and  other  works  in  the  Exhibition,  that  there  is  no  dividing 
line  between  the  useful  and  the  ornamental  in  Art.  Nearly,  if  not  all  the  works 
exhibited,  are  of  the  useful  class,  while  the  ornamentation  which  has  been  be- 
stowed upon  them,  belongs  to  the  highest  order  of  artistic  invention.  Precisely 
the  reverse  of  this  may  be  seen  in  the  productions  of  Italian  Art,  while,  in  the 
English,  there  is  an  excessively  awkward  blending  of  the  two ;  the  useful  works 
are  not  ornamental,  and  the  ornamental  are  rarely  beautiful.  A  work  of  pure 
ornament,  for  the  sake  of  ornament,  is  an  absurdity,  and  against  nature,  as  Locke 
says  of  labor  for  the  sake  of  labor.  It  will  be  within  the  legitimate  duty  of  the 
Record,  to  illustrate  and  enforce  the  truth  of  our  observations  by  pointing  to 
particular  examples  in  the  Exhibition ;  but,  besides  this,  we  must  request  our 
readers,  who  visit  the  Exhibition  for  the  purpose  of  study  and  improvement,  to 
bear  these  ideas  in  mind,  as  they  go  from  department  to  department,  glancing 
at  the  characteristic  labor  of  the  different  peoples  of  the  earth,  who  have  favored 
us  by  their  contributions,  and  we  have  full  faith  that  their  own  observations  and 
conclusions,  will  justify  the  truth  and  soundness  of  our  remarks. 

The  origin  of  painting  has  been  fancifully  attributed  to  the  desire  of  a  young 
girl,  who  wished  to  retain  a  likeness  of  her  lover,  and  traced  the  profile  of  his 
shadow  upon  the  wall.   But  young  girls  have  no  need  of  such  devices  to  retain  the 


features  of  their  lovers.  If  they  have  hearts  capable  of  loving,  they  are  soft  euougk 
to  receive  a  more  enduring  likeness  of  the  object  of  their  affection,  than  a  mural 
silhouette  could  give.  It  was  the  first  office  of  painting  to  give  religious  instruc- 
tion, by  perpetuating  the  legendary  lore  of  the  people,  as  it  was  of  sculpture,  until 
the  invention  of  letters  and  printing,  and  then  Art  began  to  decline  until  it  became 
what  it  now  is,  a  decorator  and  an  embellisher.  It  is  only  in  portraiture  that  Art 
retains  any  of  her  first  great  office  of  historian.  In  the  high  and  palmy  days  of 
Art,  when  the  great  works  were  executed,  which  fill  us  with  awe  and  admiration 
by  their  perfection  of  execution,  and  deep  religious  feeling,  her  votaries  wasted 
none  of  their  powers  on  merely  decorative  works.  But  now  the  case  is  different, 
and  almost  the  only  office  Art  has  to  fill  is  that  of  a  decorator.  Let  us  look  about 
through  the  splendid  achievements  of  Art  in  the  Crystal  Palace,  and  see  where 
we  can  find  an  effort  of  genius  which  was  designed  for  any  other  purpose  than  that 
of  ornament.  There  is  the  superb  colossal  group  by  Kiss,  the  Amazon  attacked 
by  a  tiger,  which  lacks  nothing  but  a  purpose  and  a  meaning  to  entitle  it  to  a 
place  by  the  side  of  the  Laocoon  and  the  Dying  Gladiator.  To  the  people  of  this 
age  it  conveys  no  meaning ;  it  is  perfect  in  modelling,  it  is  full  of  action  and  life, 
the  mechanical  execution  is  surprising,  but  what  is  the  meaning  of  it?  It  is 
simply  an  ornament  for  the  King  of  Prussia 's  palace  ;  but,  having  no  meaning,  it 
fails  to  be  ornamental,  because  it  is  out  of  place.  Of  a  similar  character  is  a 
marvellously  fine  bronze  casting  of  a  boar's  head,  which,  for  brutishnes3  and 
ferocity,  is  quite  as  startling  and  offensive  as  the  head  of  a  natural  boar  could  be, 
and  if  this  object  were  hung  up  in  a  cabinet,  it  would  be  as  terrific  a  bore  as  one 
need  wish  for.  In  works  of  this  kind,  of  which  there  are  a  good  many  specimens  i 
in  the  Exhibition,  Art  suffers  a  degradation,  and  fulfils  neither  of  the  purposes  for 
which  Art  is  worthy  of  being  encouraged.  There  is  a  remarkable  instance  of  the 
misapplication  of  artistic  effort,  in  the  French  department,  among  the  beautiful 
examples  of  painted  porcelain  which  are  exhibited  there.  "We  allude  to  the  dessert 
set  of  plates  which  are  embellished  with  superbly  painted  portraits  of  the  Bourbon 
family.  These  portraits  are  executed  with  the  greatest  delicacy  of  finish,  and  are, 
doubtless,  copied  from  original  miniatures  on  ivory ;  they  are  surrounded  by  imi- 
tations of  pearls,  and  they  look  more  suitable  to  be  worn  as  ornaments  for  the 
bosoms  of  fair  ladies,  than  to  be  used  as  plates  for  the  table.  It  is  repulsive  to 
every  sense  of  propriety  to  use  such  delicate  works  of  Art  to  eat  from,  while  the 
obvious  uses  for  which  they  were  intended,  makes  it  equally  repulsive  to  exhibit  them 
as  articles  of  ornament.  It  is  one  of  the  most  obvious  instances  of  degrading  Art, 
by  applying  works  intended  for  instruction  to  the  lowest  class  of  embellishment. 
Eating  a  jelly  or  a  meringue  off  of  the  portrait  of  one's  ancestor,  and  besmearing 
the  cheeks  and  soft  eyes  of  one's  mother  or  sister  with  even  so  delicate  an  article 
of  food  as  an  omelette  sou£H6,  cannot  be  productive  of  pleasant  feelings,  and  we 
wonder  that  even  a  Bourbon  could  be  so  destitute  of  feeling,  as  to  take  pleasure  in 
eating  his  dinner  off  of  the  faces  of  his  ancestors.  In  much  better  taste  are  the 
examples  of  ornamented  crockery,  in  which  fruits  and  flowers  are  painted  with 
such  matchless  beauty,  as  we  have  seen  in  several  instances,  both  in  the  French 
and  English  dinner  and  dessert  sets.  Lady  Morgan  gives  an  account  of  a  dinner 
at  Rothschild's,  in  Paris,  and  describes  the  plates  as  having  the  finest  landscapes 
painted  upon  them  ;  but  her  sense  of  propriety  did  not  seem  to  have  been  at  all 
outraged  by  the  grossness  of  putting  such  splendid  works  of  Art  to  such  base  uses. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  objects  among  the  French  bronzes,  is  a  chandelier  repre- 
senting leaves  and  branches  of  shrubbery,  among  which  the  lights  are  placed  in  a 
natural  and  pleasing  manner,  in  striking  contrast  to  the  offensive  manner  of  sending 
jets  of  gas  through  the  stamens  of  water  lilies,  and  making  flames  burst  out  of 
drooping  fuschias,  as  is  the  prevailing  fashion.  We  can  but  hint  at  the  many 
objects  in  the  Exhibition  which  are  full  of  suggestiveness  to  the  thoughtful  ob- 
server ;  but  we  shall  recur  to  the  subject  again,  and  endeavor  to  direct  those 
who,  for  improvement,  visit  the  Crystal  Palace,  or  study  our  engravings  of  the 
objects  exhibited  there,  how  to  profit  by  the  wealth  of  decorative  Art  which 
abounds  in  its  different  departments. 


BOOKBINDING. 

BOOKBINDING  is  an  art  much  older  than  it  is  generally  supposed  to  be.  A3 
we  all  know  that  the  first  books  were  written  upon  parchment  or  papyrus, 
and  rolled  upon  small  cylinders  of  wood  or  ivory,  the  impression  is  not  uncom- 
mon that  all  books  were  in  that  form  until  the  introduction  of  the  art  of  printing. 
But  it  is  two  thousand  years  and  more  since  Phillatius,  a  Greek,  divided  the  rolled 
volume  into  sheets,  and  glued  these  together  in  the  form  which  is  familiar  to  us. 
The  rolls  had  been  preserved  from  dust  and  injury  by  being  kept  in  cylindrical 
cases,  and  a  protection  for  the  book  in  its  new  shape  was  soon  found  to  be  more 
necessary  than  before.  This  was  supplied  by  securing  the  leaves  between  stiff 
covers,  probably  of  wood  at  first,  and  thus  began  the  modern  art  of  bookbinding. 
Soon  the  board  was  covered  with  leather,  making  in  external  appearance  a  still 

ST 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


nearer  approach  to  the  workmanship  of  our  day  ;  hut  it  was  not  until  the  close  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  or  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth,  that  the  stout  pasteboard, 
called  mill-board,  which  unites  lightness  with  sufficient  strength,  was  used  as  the 
foundation  of  the  book-cover. 

The  ancient  Romans  ornamented  the  covers  of  their  books  very  elaborately. 
Those  of  wood  wene  carved;  and  upon  some  of  these,  scenes  from  plays,  and 
events  of  public  interest  were  represented.  About  the  commencement  of  the  Chris- 
tian era,  leather  of  brilliant  hues,  decorated  with  gold  and  silver,  had  come  into  use. 
In  the  Middle  Ages,  the  monks  exhausted  their  ingenuity,  and  frequently,  it  would 
seem,  their  purses,  in  adorning  the  covers  of  those  manuscripts  which  they  spent 
their  lives  in  writing  and  illuminating.  Single  figures  and  groups,  wrought  in  solid 
gold,  solid  silver,  and  gold  gorgeous  with  enamel,  precious  stones  and  pearls,  made 
the  outside  of  the  volume  correspond  to  the  splendor  within.  Less  expensive  works 
were  often  bound  in  oaken  boards  very  richly  carved ;  scenes  from  the  life  of  Christ, 
the  Virgin,  or  the  Apostles,  furnishing  the  subjects.  Many  still  exist  upon  which 
the  Nativity,  or  the  Crucifixion,  is  carved  in  high  relief. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth, 
kings,  princes,  and  wealthy  nobles,  expended  much  money  upon  the  binding  of  their 
libraries,  which  were,  in  many  cases,  very  extensive.  Carved  ivory  covers,  protect- 

!  ed  by  golden  corners,  and  secured  by  jewelled  clasps  were  common,  as  were  also 
those  of  velvet,  silk  brocade,  vellum,  and  morocco,  elaborately  ornamented  after 
designs  made  by  great  artists,  and  protected  with  bosses,  corners,  and  clasps  of 
solid  gold.  The  precious  stones  and  metals  upon  these  book-covers  cost  us  the 
loss  of  many  a  more  precious  volume,  for  they  frequently  formed  no  inconsiderable 
part  of  the  plunder  of  a  wealthy  mansion  in  a  captured  city.  Mr.  Dibdin  tells  us 
of  one  library  of  thirty  thousand  volumes — that  of  Corvinus,  King  of  Hungary — 
which  was  destroyed  on  this  account  by  the  Turkish  soldiers,  when  Buda  was 

;  taken  in  1526. 

Quite  an  era  in  the  history  of  bookbinding  in  England  was  formed  by  the  pub- 
lication of  the  Great  Bible,  by  Grafton,  in  1539.  His  first  edition  was  of  2000 
copies,  and  within  three  years  there  were  seven  editions.  A  substantial  binding  was 
thus  needed  for  nearly  twenty  thousand  volumes,  and  from  this  time  there  was  a 
noticeable  advance  in  the  art  in  England;  chiefly,  however,  in  the  mechanical  de- 
partment ;  for  Henry  VIII.  had  many  books  richly  and  beautifully  bound.  In  his 
reign  the  use  of  gold  tooling  was  introduced,  and  the  designs  for  some  of  the 
rolls  are  attributed  to  Holbein.  Queen  Elizabeth  herself  embroidered  velvet 
and  silk  book  covers,  some  of  which  were  also  tooled  in  gilt.  [It  may  be  well 
to  say  here,  for  the  benefit  of  those  not  familiar  with  the  bookbinder's  vocabu- 
lary, that  gilt  tooling  is  what  is  commonly  called  gilding,  the  figures  in  gilt  being 
produced  by  the  impression  of  a  hot  tool,  sometimes  stamped,  sometimes  rolled,  upon 
gold  leaf.  Blind  tooling  is  produced  by  the  use  of  the  hot  tool  without  gold  leaf. 
The  forwarding  of  a  book  is  the  sewing  and  putting  it  into  the  cover.  Finishing, 
is  the  tooling,  gilding,  &c] 

Among  the  finest  specimens  of  finishing  ever  produced,  are  those  which  were 
executed  for  Count  Grolier,  a  French  nobleman,  who  lived  at  the  close  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  The  patterns  are  formed  only  by  the  intricate  intersection  of 
graceful  lines.  There  is  never  an  attempt  at  the  imitation  of  any  natural  object, 
although  leaves  of  a  conventional  form  are  sparsely  introduced.  In  our  opinion 
there  has  been  no  style  of  highly  ornamental  binding  equal  to  that  adopted  by 
Count  Grolier,  and  which  is  known  by  his  name.  Attempts  at  the  accurate  imi- 
tation of  natural  objects,  such  as  figures  of  men  and  animals,  foliage  and  flowers, 
by  gilt  tooling  upon  book  covers,  seem  very  much  out  of  place,  and  have  never 
;  been  successful  in  themselves.  The  attempts  at  architectural  ornaments,  such  as  the 
perspective  delineation  of  a  cathedral  or  of  a  railway  tunnel,  especially  if  they  are 
I  ostentatiously  gilt,  as  well  as  inlaid  portraits  or  landscapes,  are  equally  objection- 
able in  point  of  taste  and  utility.  No  ornament  which  is  not  flat  in  reality  or  ap- 
pearance is  admissible  on  the  cover  of  a  book. 

Since  the  time  of  Count  Grolier,  the  French  binders  have  maintained  a  marked 
superiority  in  the  finishing  of  their  work.  In  the  last  century  lived  Pandeloupe, 
De  Sueil,  and  De  Rome,  who  have  left  historical  reputations  for  the  delicacy  and 
richness  of  their  designs  in  gold.  At  the  present  day  Beauzonnct,  Cape,  Duru, 
Bozerian,  Simier  and  Lortic,  are  the  most  celebrated  among  the  French  binders. 
As  a  class  they  lack  neither  ability  nor  conceit.  They  hold  themselves  far 
above  their  brethren  of  England  ;  and  Duru  once  said  that  he  should  consider  him- 
self insulted  if  he  were  told  that  he  could  bind  as  well  as  llayday.  Their  prices 
1  are  enormous — three  times  as  great  as  those  of  the  best  London  binders,  large  as 
those  are.  The  French  books  are  remarkable  for  the  firmness  of  their  boards,  the 
smoothness  of  their  leather,  and  the  delicacy,  the  richness  of  design,  and  the  sharp- 
ness of  outline  of  their  gold  tooling.  The  design  upon  one  of  Beauzonnet's, 
Cape's,  or  Lortic's  books  seems  hardly  to  be  stamped  upon  the  leather,  but  ra- 
ther to  be  inlaid  in  it.  But  for  pleasure  and  convenience  in  use,  the  work  of  the 
French  binders  is  inferior  to  that  of  the  English.  Books  bound  by  the  former  are 
very  stiff ;  that  is,  they  open  with  great,  difficulty,  and  require  constant  pressure  to 
keep  them  open. 

The  father  of  the  English  school  of  binders  was  Roger  Payne,  who  lived  to- 
ward the  close  of  the  last  century.    He  bound  compactly,  with  some  taste,  and 

38 


always  used  the  best  materials.  He  did  all  the  work  upon  every  volume  bound 
by  him,  from  sewing  the  sheets,  to  gilding  the  edges  and  tooling  the  sides.  The 
great  modern  English  binders  are  Hayday,  Clarke,  Bedford,  Riviere  and  Wright. 
The  Remnants  have  a  very  large  establishment,  and  bind  richly  and  substantially. 
The  work  of  Charles  Lewis  (now  dead,  we  believe)  is  highly  prized,  and  merits 
its  reputation.  But  in  the  work  of  all  these  binders  a  poverty  of  invention  is  ap- 
parent, which  diminishes  their  claims  upon  our  admiration.  Their  tooling  is  coarse 
and  heavy  beside  that  of  the  French  binders ;  and  by  using  thicker  and  less  com- 
pact boards  they  produce  an  impression  of  clumsiness.  The  great  pleasure  in  the 
use  of  the  work  of  a  good  English  binder  is  found  in  the  freedom  with  which 
the  book  opens,  the  respect  which  his  plough  has  had  for  the  margins,  the  true- 
ness,  squareness,  and  compactness  of  the  book  itself — that  is  the  leaves — and  in  the 
rich  general  appearance  of  the  volume.  Splendid  as  the  French  work  is,  it  is 
not  always  with  regret  that  we  turn  from  Beauzonnet  or  Cape,  to  Hayday,  or  Clarke, 
or  Bedford. 

In  America  bookbinding  is  eminent  among  the  arts  in  which  remarkable  pro- 
gress has  been  made  within  the  last  few  years,  and  among  the  specimens  sent  to 
the  Exhibition  by  one  or  two  of  our  binders,  we  find  instances  of  taste  and  mecha- 
nical skill,  which  would  be  creditable  to  the  best  European  binders.  We  call 
bookbinding  an  art;  and  when  we  consider  all  that  is  necessary  to  the  perfect 
covering  of  a  fine  book,  it  must  be  admitted  to  be  an  art ;  less  important,  it  is  true, 
but  similar  in  kind  to  architecture. 

The  first  requisition  upon  the  skill  of  the  binder  is  to  put  the  book  into  a  cover 
which  will  effectually  protect  it,  and  at  the  same  time  permit  it  to  be  used  with 
ease.  If  he  do  not  accomplish  this,  his  most  elaborate  exhibition  of  ornamental 
skill  is  worth  nothing;  for  lie  fails  in  the  very  end  for  which  his  services  are  re- 
quired. It  was  in  this  regard,  too,  that  most  of  our  binders  failed  in  past  years. 
Who  that  remembers  the  hideous,  harsh,  speckled,  sheep  covers  which  deformed 
our  booksellers'  shelves  not  long  ago,  can  forget  the  added  torment  which  they 
inflicted  upon  their  unhappy  purchaser,  by  curling  up  palpably  before  his  very 
eyes  as  he  passed  his  first  evening  over  them,  and  by  casting  out  loose  leaves  or 
whole  signatures  before  he  had  finished  his  first  perusal.  In  those  days,  too, 
there  was  morocco  binding,  with  a  California  of  gold  upon  the  sides ;  and  such 
morocco !  it  felt  to  the  fingers  like  a  flattened  nutmeg  grater,  seeming  to  protect 
the  book  by  making  it  painful  for  any  one  to  touch  it.  This  was  as  useless  as  the 
humbler,  though  not  more  vulgar  sheep.  It  would  hardly  last  through  the  holi- 
day season  on  the  centre  table  which  it  was  made  to  adorn.  This  is  so  no  longer, 
and  we  now  have  several  binders  in  New-York,  and  some  in  Philadelphia  and 
Boston,  whose  work,  with  reasonable  care,  would  last  for  centuries. 

The  binder's  next  task  is  to  give  his  work  the  substantial  appearance,  without 
which  the  eye  of  the  connoisseur  will  remain  unsatisfied.  The  volume  must  not 
only  be  well  protected  but  seem  so.  It  should  be  solid,  compact,  square  edged, 
and  inclosed  in  firm  boards  of  a  stoutness  proportionate  to  its  size,  and  these  should 
be  covered  with  leather  at  once  pliable  and  strong.  Unless  it  present  this  appear- 
ance, it  will  be  unsatisfactory  in  spite  of  the  richest  colors  and  the  most  elaborate 
ornament.  Thus  far  the  mere  mechanical  skill  of  She  binder  goes.  In  the  choice 
of  his  style  of  binding,  and  in  the  decoration  of  his  book,  if  lie  perform  his 
task  with  taste  and  skill,  he  rises  to  the  rank  of  an  artist. 

The  fitness  of  the  binding  to  the  character  of  the  volume  which  it  protects, 
though  little  regarded  by  many  binders,  and  still  less  by  those  for  whom  they  work, 
is  of  the  first  importance.  Suppose  Moore's  Lalla  Rookh  bound  in  rough  sheep, 
with  dark  Russia  back  and  corners,  like  a  merchant's  ledger,  or  Johnson's  folio  Dic- 
tionary in  straw-colored  morocco  elaborately  gilded,  and  lined  with  pale  blue 
watered-silk,  is  there  an  eye,  no  matter  how  uneducated,  which  would  not  be 
shocked  at  the  incongruity  ?  Each  book  might  be  perfectly  protected,  open  freely, 
and  exhibit  evidence  of  great  mechanical  and  artistic  skill  on  the  part  of  the 
binder  ;  but  his  atrocious  taste  would  ensure  him  a  just  and  universal  condemnation. 
And  yet  there  are  violations  of  fitness  to  be  seen  daily,  on  the  majority  of  public 
and  private  shelves,  little  less  outrageous  than  those  we  have  supposed.  Books  of 
poetry,  and  illustrated  works  on  art  bound  in  sober  speckled  or  tree-marbled  calf 
with  little  gold  upon  the  backs  and  sides,  and  none  upon  the  edges !  Histories, 
statistical  works,  and  books  of  reference  in  rich  morocco,  splendidly  gilded  ! — the 
idea  that  the  styles  ought  to  change  places,  seeming  never  to  enter  the  heads  of 
the  possessors  of  these  absurdly  covered  volumes.  But  a  little  reflection  by  any 
person  of  taste,  and  power  to  discern  the  eternal  fitness  of  tilings,  will 
make  it  apparent  that  there  should  be  congruity  and  adaptation  in  the  binding 
of  books.  Sober,  practical  volumes,  should  bo  correspondingly  covered; 
calf  and  Russia  leather  with  marbled  paper  and  edges  become  them;  while 
works  of  imagination,  such  as  poetry  and  books  of  engravings,  demand  rich  mo- 
rocco, fanciful  ornaments,  and  gilding.  To  bind  histories,  philosophical  works, 
dictionaries,  books  of  reference  and  the  like,  in  plain  calf  or  dark  Russia, 
travels,  novels,  essays,  and  the  lighter  kind  of  prose  writing,  in  tinted  calf  or 
pale  Russia  with  gilding,  poetry  in  full  morocco  richly  gilded,  and  works  on 
art  in  half  morocco,  with  the  top  edge  only  cut  and  gilded,  seems  a  judicious 
partition  of  the  principal  styles  of  binding.  The  margins  of  an  illustrated  work 
on  art  should  never  be  cut  away,  except  where  it  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the 


THE   NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


preservation  of  the  book  from  dust,  and  the  convenience  of  turning  the  leaves— 
that  is  at  the  top.  It  is  well  here  to  enter  a  protest  against  the  indiscriminate  use 
of  the  antique  style  of  binding,  with  dark-brown  calf,  bevelled  boards,  and  red 
edges.  This  is  very  well  in  its  place ;  but  it  should  be  confined  to  prose  works  of 
authors  who  wrote  not  later  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  What  pro- 
priety is  there  in  putting  Scott,  or  Irving,  or  Dickens,  or  Longfellow^  in  such  a 
dress  ? 

A  better  illustration  of  the  remarks  could  not  be  produced  than  is  to  be 
found  in  the  case  of  books  exhibited  by  Mr.  William  Matthews,  New-York. 
In  this  case  are  specimens  of  almost  every  style  of  binding,  in  its  highest 
perfection,  and  most  correct  adaptation.  A  set  of  Pickering's  edition  of  Milton, 
bound  in  light  olive  morocco,  of  a  rich  and  sober,  yet  delicate  tint,  is  remarkable  for 
the  squareness  and  firmness  of  its  boards,  the  compactness  of  its  leaves,  the  freedom 
with  which  it  opens,  the  sharpness  and  perfect  accuracy  of  the  tooling,  and  its 
distinct  and  even  lettering ;  in  the  last  respect  it  is  unequalled,  and  in  most  of  the 
others  unsurpassed  by  the  finest  specimens  we  have  seen  of  the  best  binders  of 
London  and  Paris.  Various  sets  of  books,  and  single  volumes  in  calf  and  morocco 
in  this  case,  claim  the  unqualified  admiration  of  the  experienced  eye  both  for  their 
forwarding  and  finishing. 

But  the  principal  specimen  from  the  establishment  of  Mr.  Matthews,  is  a 
copy  of  Owen  Jones's  Alhambra,  of  which  we  have  given  an  engraving.  This 
book  is  a  large  folio,  filled  with  plates  of  the  gorgeous  Moorish  decorations  of  the 
famous  building,  the  name  of  which  it  bears.  Its  contents  made  it  appropriate 
for  the  binder  to  give  full  scope  to  his  fancy  in  the  design  for  its  exterior  ;  and  the 
result  is  a  work  of  art  of  superb  richness  and  irreproachable  taste.  The  external 
design  is  foliated  arabesque ;  graceful,  though  grotesque,  and  not  overloaded, 
though  rich  in  ornament  and  gilding.  The  peculiar  effect  has  evidently  been  pro- 
duced in  this  way.  The  book  was  first  completely  covered  with  pale  Russia 
leather,  and  over  this  was  laid  blue  morocco,  out  of  which  the  design  was  c,ut,  so  that 
the  figure  appears  light  upon  a  dark  ground ;  in  fact,  it  is  an  intaglio  in  leather. 
As  the  Russia  and  morocco,  though  rich,  needed  life  and  fire  to  suit  perfectly  the 
character  of  the  plates  which  give  the  volume  its  character,  the  principal  outlines 
of  the  design  are  followed  with  a  narrow  strip  of  crimson  morocco,  and  upon  this 
is  laid  the  gilt  tooling,  which  is  composed  of  very  small  circles,  semicircles,  dots, 
and  lines,  each  one  requiring  one  or  two  impressions  of  the  tool.  The  effect  is 
splendid,  and  the  workmanship  is  exquisitely  nice  and  accurate. 

The  inside  of  the  cover  is  elaborately  ornamented  in  a  similar  style,  but  with 
a  different  design.  The  forms  here  are  not  foliated,  but  are  the  results  of  the  in- 
tersection of  complicated  semicircular  lines.  The  colors  and  the  tooling  are  the 
same  as  those  upon  the  outside  of  the  cover.  In  the  middle  is  a  panel  in  vellum, 
upon  which  is  laid  down  a  lozenge  pattern  in  straw-colored  morocco,  richly  gilt. 
The  fly  leaf  is  backed  with  straw-colored  watered  silk.  The  hinge  is,  of  course,  of 
Russia  leather. 

This  superb  volume  is  exhibited  as  a  specimen  of  finishing ;  and  it  is  deserving 
of  particular  attention  that  its  beauty  is  entirely  the  fruit  of  the  binder's  taste  and 
skill.  Leather  and  gold  leaf  are  the  only  materials  used  in  the  production  of  its 
splendid  dress,  which  owes  nothing  to  the  painter  and  the  jeweller.  This  is  as  it 
should  be.  Suum  cuique.  Let  not  arts  be  mingled.  The  binder  who  seeks  the 
painter's  aid  confesses  the  poverty  of  his  invention,  or  the  inadequacy  of  his  art. 
Money  enough  can  be  expended  upon  binding  to  make  the  outside  worthy  of  the 
inside  of  the  most  precious  volume,  and  to  satisfy  the  profuse  disposition  of  the 
lavish.    The  binding  of  this  volume  cost  its  tasteful  and  enterprising  exhibitor  $500. 

Among  the  other  books  exhibited,  the  account  books  from  Messrs.  Root  & 
Anthony's  seem  most  worthy  of  notice.  Their  strength,  elegance,  and  pliability 
make  them  models  in  this  style  of  binding.  There  are  seveAl  other  cases  contain- 
ing bound  account  books,  the  forwarding  of  which  is  perhaps  equal  to  that  upon 
those  of  which  we  have  spoken ;  but  they  are  deformed  by  the  splendor  of  inlaid 
vellum,  and  morocco  gilded  ;  thus  violating  the  law  of  fitness,  which  we  must  con- 
sider as  one  of  the  first  to  be  regarded  in  bookbinding,  as  in  all  other  arts.  Gild- 
ing and  prismatic  colors  are  out  of  place  in  the  counting-room. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  COAST  SURVEY. 

THERE  is  nothing  in  the  American  department  of  the  Exhibition,  which  is  a 
more  just  and  honorable  exponent  of  the  progress  of  the  United  States  in  some 
of  the  higher  and  more  difficult  departments  of  human  knowledge,  than  the  display 
of  the  means  and  results  of  the  Coast  Survey.  It  consists  of  various  instruments 
of  research,  theodolites  and  astronomical  instruments,  compensating  bars  for  the 
measurement  of  base  lines,  instruments  for  verification,  a  tide  register,  a  ther- 
mometer for  taking  the  temperature  of  the  deepest  soundings,  the  standards  of 
weight  and  measure,  and  of  the  results  of  field  researches,  comprised  in  numerous 
engraved  copperplates  and  electrotype  copies  of  them,  and  the  printed  charts. 
These  mute  witnesses  speak,  in  language  clear  and  distinct  to  the  instructed  mind, 
of  the  progress  and  power  of  science.    They  have  all  borne  their  part  in  carrying 


this  great  work  forward  to  its  present  honorable  position — a  position  which  has 
done  much  to  make  the  name  of  America  honored  over  the  whole  world. 

The  present  Superintendent  of  the  survey  is  Alexander  Dallas  Baciie.  His 
position  is  at  once  the  most  honorable  which  a  scientific  man  can  reach  in  the 
United  States,  and  also  the  most  laborious  and  responsible.  The  constantly  in- 
creasing confidence  and  esteem  which  Mr.  Bache  has  won  from  successive  admin- 
istrations at  Washington,  as  well  as  from  the  people  at  large,  and  especially  from 
the  distinguished  United  States'  officers,  and  the  civilians  employed  in  this  service, 
bear  the  most  gratifying  testimony  to  his  remarkable  scientific  and  administrative 
abilities.  We  propose  to  describe  some  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  instruments 
and  processes  of  the  survey.  A  condensed  statement  of  the  history  and  objects  of 
the  survey  will  be  an  appropriate  introduction  to  these  notices,  and  for  this  we 
are  chiefly  indebted,  by  permission  of  its  distinguished  author,  to  a  memoir  by 
Capt.  Charles  H.  Davis,  U.  S.  N. 

It  was  to  be  expected  that  a  people  devoted  to  the  pursuits  of  commerce,  and 
depending,  in  some  degree,  on  the  sea  as  a  means  of  communication  between  dis- 
tant parts  of  the  national  terrritory,  should  demand,  at  an  early  period  of  their 
history,  a  competent  survey  of  their  coasts  and  inland  waters. 

But  a  short  time  previous  to  the  separation  of  the  Colonies,  charts  had  been 
constructed  of  the  shores  and  harbors  of  North  America,  under  the  direction  of 
F.  W.  Des  Barres,  his  Majesty's  Surveyor-General  for  the  Colonies.  The  progress 
of  his  labors  was  interrupted  by  the  Revolution.  The  surveys  made  under  the 
personal  superintendence  of  Des  Barres  still  bear  testimony  to  his  skill  and  fidelity, 
and  present  a  generally  correct  view  of  those  parts  of  New  England  and  the  British 
possessions,  whose  rocky  shores  are  but  little  liable  to  change.  They  continue  to 
form  the  principal  basis  of  the  charts  of  the  northeastern  coast  of  this  continent.  In 
the  Southern  and  Middle  States,  however,  they  have  been  rendered  worse  than 
useless,  by  the  inconstant  character  of  the  bottoms,  and  the  unequal  merit  of  the 
originals.  The  surveys  of  Des  Barres,  covering  a  vast  extent  of  coast,  were  origin- 
ally deficient  in  minuteness  of  detail,  and  in  hydrographical  information ;  and  these 
defects  have  been  increased  by  the  rapid  and  extensive  changes  in  the  direction, 
means,  and  wants  of  navigation  caused  by  the  growth  of  the  country. 

The  project  of  a  complete  survey,  conducted  upon  a  uniform  system,  and 
extending  over  the  whole  coast,  was  first  proposed  by  the  late  Professor  Patterson, 
in  1806.  It  combined  three  objects,  the  astronomical  determination  of  prominent 
points,  a  triangulation  to  connect  those  points,  and  a  hydrographic  survey  based 
upon  this  triangulation.  Mr.  Gallatin,  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  encouraged 
the  project,  and  obtained  in  writing  the  opinions  of  learned  men  as  to  the  best 
mode  of  executing  it.  He  selected  the  plan  of  operations  recommended  by  Mr. 
Hassler,  the  first  Superintendent  of  the  Coast  Survey.  This  gentleman,  a  native 
of  Switzerland,  had  been  employed  in  the  triangulation  of  the  Canton  of  Berne, 
and  had  studied  the  science  of  geodesy  under  the  most  distinguished  masters.  It 
was  exceedingly  fortunate  that  his  presence  and  advice  here  secured  the  early 
adoption  of  the  only  method  of  conducting  a  comprehensive  trigonometrical  survey 
that  science  approves, — the  only  one  of  which  the  results  have  a  certain  and 
permanent  value. 

It  is  only,  however,  since  the  year  1832  that  the  survey  of  the  coast  has  been 
in  steady  and  active  operation.  During  this  long  interval  of  neglect  on  the  part 
of  the  government,  the  coasting  trade  and  foreign  commerce  of  the  country  have 
been  chiefly  indebted  to  the  indefatigable  labors  of  those  distinguished  hydrograph- 
ers,  the  Messrs.  Blunt  of  New- York,  for  the  means  of  safe  navigation. 

The  history  of  the  fortunes,  or  rather  misfortunes  of  the  survey,  during  the 
preceding  twenty -five  years,  may  be  recited  in  a  few  words.  A  law  authorizing  a 
survey  of  the  coast  was  passed  in  1807,  but  nothing  was  done  under  the  law  until 
1811,  when  Mr.  Hassler  was  sent  to  Europe  to  procure  the  instruments  specified  in 
his  plan.  They  had  all  to  be  constructed.  The  war  of  1812,  and  the  failure  of 
remittances,  prevented  Mr.  Hassler's  return  before  1816,  and  in  August  of  that 
year  he  was  appointed  to  the  office  of  Superintendent.  In  1818,  Mr.  Hassler's 
connection  with  the  work  was  broken  off,  by  the  repeal  of  that  part  of  the  law  of 
1807  which  authorized  the  employment  of  citizens.  During  the  ten  years  that 
followed,  the  coast  survey  seems  to  have  been  forgotten  by  the  public  and  by  Con- 
gress. In  1827,  Mr.  Southard,  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  a  name  never  to  be 
mentioned  without  an  expression  of  the  high  respect  which  ability,  patriotism,  and 
long,  faithful,  and  valuable  services  must  always  command  in  the  republic,  took 
occasion  in  his  annual  report  to  say,  that  perfect  surveys  and  charts  of  our  har- 
bors could  not  be  made  without  the  aid  of  the  means  contemplated  by  the  act  of 
1807  and  in  February,  1828,  the  House  directed  the  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs 
to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  carrying  into  effect  the  provisions  of  that  act. 
Finally,  in  1832,  the  act  of  1807  was  revised,  and  an  appropriation  made  for 
carrying  it  into  execution,  and  since  that  period  regular  annual  appropriations 
have  been  made,  varying  in  amount,  but  generally  such  as  have  been  called  for  by 
the  estimates  of  the  Superintendent. 

In  1843,  there  was  added  to  the  appropriation  a  proviso,  stipulating  that  a 
board,  consisting  of  scientific  persons  in  the  service  of  the  Government,  should  be 
empowered  to  reorganize  the  work ;  and  the  plan  presented  by  them,  when  ap- 

39 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


proved  by  the  President,  was  to  be,  and  is  now,  the  law  regulating  the  operations 
of  the  survey.  The  scientific  methods  pursued  by  Mr.  Ilasslor  were  continued, 
and  it  was  directed  that  the  topography  should  be  carried  so  far  inland  as  might  be 
necessary  for  a  proper  delineation  of  the  shore,  and  for  purposes  either  of  commerce 
or  defence. 

It  is  now  understood  that  the  aim  of  the  coast  survey  is  to  furnish,  with  the 
utmost  attainable  accuracy,  and  in  a  connected  and  uniform  manner,  all  the  geo- 
graphical, topographical,  and  hydrographical  data  that  can  be  made  in  any  way 
useful  to  the  navigation  and  defence  of  the  coast.  And  it  is  also  supposed,  that, 
in  collecting  these  data,  information  will  be  accumulated  that  may  become  service- 
able in  suggesting  and  directing  local  and  general  improvements;  such  as  the 
placing  and  constructing  of  light-houses,  beacons,  buoys,  &c,  the  means  of  im- 
proving channels,  the  effect  of  contemplated  obstructions  upon  harbors  and  tidal 
deposits,  the  suitableness  of  a  submerged  soil  for  building,  &c.  And,  lastly,  it  is 
presumed  that  those  States  through  which  the  survey  passes  will,  sooner  or  later, 
avail  themselves  of  the  base  it  is  able  to  supply,  to  form  a  correct  geographical 
map  of  their  own  territory,  under  circumstances  very  favorable  to  economy  and 
accuracy.  These  are  the  practical  benefits,  either  direct  or  incidental,  conferred 
by  the  coast  survey. 

In  abstract  science  it  has  also  its  mission,  equally  useful  and  distinguished.  It 
is  to  contribute  a  part  of  the  means  by  which  the  irregularly  elliptical  form  of  the 
earth  may  be  satisfactorily  determined,  the  variations  in  local  gravitation,  their 
causes,  and  thence  the  internal  structure  of  the  earth,  be  made  known,  and  the 
phenomena  of  terrestrial  magnetism  be  explained.  It  will  illustrate  the  astro- 
nomical problem  of  the  tides.  Its  numerous  meteorological  records  will  also 
contribute  to  a  better  knowledge  of  the  climates  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the 
nature  and  action  of  meteoric  storms,  and  thus  bo  of  service  to  the  farmer  as  well 
as  to  the  navigator. 

The  science  of  geodetics  prescribes  the  principles  upon  which  a  survey  of  an 
extended  region  should  be  conducted.  In  the  ordinary  operations  of  land- 
surveying,  the  surveyor  is  permitted  to  regard  his  field  of  work  as  a  plane  surface  : 
but  the  engineer  who  is  to  construct  a  map  of  a  whole  country,  or  of  a  long  line 
of  continuous  sea-coast,  must  take  into  consideration  the  spheroidal  figure  of  the 
earth,  and  present  an  exact  delineation  of  that  part  of  the  spheroid  upon  which 
he  is  employed.  This  necessity  controls  the  processes  used  in  computation,  and 
the  plan  of  projection  upon  which  the  detailed  results  are  given,  whether  it  be 
called  a  map  or  chart.  Both  the  projection  and  the  formula?  for  computation  in- 
volve the  higher  mathematics,  and  require  an  acquaintance  with  the  most  advanced 
state  of  the  mathematico-physical  sciences. 

The  system  of  projection  introduced  by  Mr.  Hassler  originated  with  Flamsteed. 
It  is  the  development  of  a  part  of  the  earth's  surface  upon  a  cone,  either  a  tangent 
to  a  certain  latitude,  or  cutting  two  given  parallels  and  two  meridians  equidistant 
from  the  middle  meridian,  and  extended  on  both  sides  of  the  meridian  and  in 
latitude  only  so  far  as  to  admit  of  no  deviation  from  the  real  magnitudes,  such  as 
would  be  sensible  in  the  detail  surveys.  In  this  method  of  reducing  the  curved 
surface  of  the  earth  to  a  plane,  the  radii  of  curvature  of  the  parallels  and  meridians, 
depending  upon  the  value  given  to  the  expression  for  the  ellipticity,  and  the 
assumed  form  of  the  globe,  are  important  terms.  For  practical  use,  tables  have 
been  computed  in  the  office  of  the  coast  survey,  allowing  the  length  in  metres  of 
every  minute  and  second  of  the  arcs  of  the  meridians  and  parallels  comprehended 
in  the  maps.  It  has  been  found  necessary  to  recalculate  these  tables  since  1844, 
on  account  of  the  new  value  of  the  ellipticity  announced  by  Bessel,  and  adopted  by 
the  present  Superintendent. 

The  practical  operations  of  the  coast  survey  are  classed  under  the  general 
heads  of  triangulation,  astronomical  and  magnetic  observations,  topography,  and 
hydrography.  The  fundamental  basis  of  the  survey  is  a  net-work  of  great  triangles, 
the  sides  of  which,  varying  from  ten  to  sixty  miles,  are  the  longest  that  the  limits 
of  vision  or  the  nature  of  the  country  will  allow,  and  hence  a  mountainous  region 
is  much  the  most  favorable  for  a  first  or  primary  triangulation.  The  starting 
line,  or  first  side  of  the  first  triangle,  called  the  base  line,  is  measured  by  mechan- 
ical means,  and  this  is  a  labor  demanding,  as  much  as  any  other  on  the  survey, 
accuracy,  a  philosophical  regard  to  minute  details,  and  long  previous  preparation. 
Observing,  in  passing,  that  soveral  kinds  of  measuring-rods  have  been  heretofore 
used,  as  wood  and  glass,  and  that  the  apparatus  of  Mr.  Hassler  consisted  of  an 
assemblage  of  fonr  iron  bars,  each  of  them  two  metres  in  length,  with  which  he 
obtained  excellent  results,  it  will,  perhaps,  best  serve  to  convey  an  idea  of  tho 
difficulty  of  measuring  a  base-line,  if  some  account  be  given  of  Professor  Bache's 
base-apparatus. 

The  measuring-bars  are  upon  the  compensating  system,  first  used  by  Colonel 
Colby  in  Great  Britain,  and  by  Mr.  Borden  in  the  trigonometrical  survey  in  the 
State  of  Massachusetts  ;  but  a  principle  not  before  applied  was  introduced  in  ref- 
erence to  the  dimensions  of  tho  bars,  which  is  thus  stated.  Bars  of  brass  and 
iron  (the  materials  employed),  of  the  same  dimensions,  will  not,  owing  to  their 
different  conducting  powers  and  specific  heats,  heat  equally  in  equal  times,  and 
therefore,  during  changes  of  temperature,  the  system  Teases  to  be  compensating. 
This  Mr.  Bache  corrected  by  giving  a  coating  to  the  bars  that  made  them  absorb 

40 


equally,  and  by  proportioning  the  sections  to  each  other,  so  that  both  would  have 
the  same  temperature  during  variable  temperatures  of  the  atmosphere.  In  order 
to  do  this  satisfactorily,  it  was  necessary  to  make  direct  experiments  upon  the 
materials  of  the  bars  themselves,  after  having  first  arranged  them  approximately 
by  means  of  the  numbers  taken  from  the  books.  The  contact  between  two  sets  of 
bars  is  made  by  a  blunt  knife-edge  and  a  plane  of  agate,  and  a  lever  of  contact  at 
the  ends  of  the  bars  is  corrected  by  a  level  so  delicate,  that  several  of  its  divisions 
make  up  a  quantity  entirely  insignificant  in  the  measurement.  The  bars  are  cov- 
ered with  a  double  conical  case  of  tin,  to  keep  the  fluctuations  of  the  temperature 
within  moderate  limits,  and  the  bases  on  which  they  are  supported  are  covered 
with  several  thicknesses  of  imperfectly  conducting  material,  for  the  same  purpose. 
The  length  of  the  apparatus  is  compared,  before  and  after  final  measurement,  with 
a  standard  iron  bar  that  had  been  compared  by  the  coast-survey  office  by  means 
of  Mr.  Saxton's  reflecting  pyrometer.  By  this  instrument,  a  change  of  the  one 
hundred  thousandth  part  of  an  inch  in  the  length  of  the  standard  bar  is  per- 
ceptible. 

To  the  preceding  description  it  should  be  added,  that  the  bars  (regulated  in 
size  by  the  relative  specific  heats  of  the  two  metals)  were  heated  above  the  pos- 
sible temperature  to  which  they  could  be  exposed  in  use,  in  order  to  give  them  a 
set.  This  precaution  was  at  first  overlooked  in  the  compensation  base-apparatus 
of  the  British  ordnance  survey,  and  it  was  afterwards  found  necessary  to  resort  to 
it.  Those  who  are  at  all  familiar  with  the  subject  will  perceive  that  Professor 
Bache's  application  of  the  lever  of  contact  and  level  (first  used  by  Bessel  in  stand- 
ards of  measure)  has  not  only  greatly  increased  the  delicacy  of  the  instrument 
and  lessened  its  complexity,  but  also  removed  several  sources  of  error.  By  optical 
contact,  and  the  employment  of  a  microscopic  apparatus  to  determine  the  dis- 
tance between  the  compensation  points,  the  measures  are  repeated  in  two  different 
terms,  each  having  its  peculiar  standard.  Such  was  the  case  in  the  British  and 
Indian  surveys,  and  Colonel  Everest  complains  of  the  consequent  liability  to  error, 
and  the  burdensome  accumulation  of  petty  corrections.  The  remeasurement  of  a 
base  of  seven  and  a  half  miles,  in  India,  differed  only  2.4  inches  from  the  first  length. 
In  a  base  of  seven  miles,  Professor  Bache  found  that  the  same  difference  might  be 
about  0.5  inch,  if  all  the  errors  were  supposed  to  fall  on  the  same  side,  which  is 
most  improbable.  The  probable  error  in  remeasuring  one  hundred  and  twelve 
yards  was  less  than  five  thousandths  of  an  inch,  and  the  actual  resulting  error  in 
remeasuring  one-third  of  a  mile  was  nothing. 

This  may  appear  like  refining  too  much,  but  it  must  be  known  that  the  lines 
measured  by  the  same  bar  in  winter  and  summer  might  differ  materially  in  nominal 
length.  This  difference  in  the  original  base  of  the  coast  survey  might  be  about 
twenty  feet,  and,  at  a  rough  estimate,  an  error  of  twenty  feet  in  this  place  would 
amount  in  one  of  the  large  triangles,  of  which  the  sides  are  between  fifty  and  sixty 
miles,  to  about  one  tenth  of  a  mile. 

The  source  of  error  and  its  correction  being  recognized,  there  is  no  other  limit 
to  accuracy  than  the  possible. 

"We  return  now  to  the  great  triangles  of  the  survey,  which,  as  has  been  said, 
form  its  fundamental  basis.  The  points  of  the  primary  triangulation  are  selected 
with  scrupulous  regard  to»all  those  conditions  which  make  triangles,  in  the  tech- 
nical acceptation,  good.  Scattered  at  distant  intervals  over  the  vast  field  of  work, 
they  are  certain  guides  by*which  the  more  detailed  operations  are  conducted  and 
controlled.  Within  them  the  space  is  subdivided  into  smaller  triangles,  constitut- 
ing the  secondary  and  tertiary  triangulations.  They  bring  down  the  work  to  the 
minute  details  of  topography  and  hydrography,  and  these  subsidiary  triangulations 
and  details,  circumscribed  as  they  are  by  the  primary  points,  are  restrained  and 
corrected  by  thom  in  their  deviations.  As  an  additional  explanation  of  the  neces- 
sity for  this  first  net  »of  great  triangles,  it  may  be  well  to  inform  the  general 
reader  that  there  is  no  instrument,  however  delicate  in  construction,  that  is  not 
liable  to  very  small  errors,  which  the  most  studious  attention  to  every  disturbing 
influence,  whether  mechanical  or  meteorological,  cannot  altogether  remove.  Now 
this  primary  triangulation,  which  in  a  mountainous  region  spans  the  surface  with 
giant  strides,  has  fewer  of  these  unaccountable  errors,  simply  because  it  has  fewer 
triangles.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add,  that  better  instruments  also  are  used  in  it. 
The  two  and  a  half  feet  theodolite,  made  by  Simms  (after  Troughton's  death), 
under  Mr.  Hassler's  supervision,  and  used  by  him  and  by  Professor  Bache  in  the 
primary  triangulation,  is  still  regarded  in  this  country  and  in  Europe  as  a  master- 
piece of  invention  and  mechanism.    It  reads  to  seconds. 

Magnetic  and  astronomical  observations  accompany  tho  primary  triangulation. 
The  latter  are  for  latitude,  longitude,  and  azimuth,  or  angular  direction  from  the 
meridian. 

Following  the  secondary  triangulation  in  order  comes  the  Topography,  the  duty 
of  which  is  to  delineate  faithfully  the  features  of  the  ground.  It  exhibits  the  height 
and  contour  of  elevations,  tho  shape  and  extent  of  plains,  the  courses  of  streams, 
all  the  constructions  of  man,  and  the  waving  and  indented  outline  of  tho  shores. 
It  distinguishes  the  tilled  land  from  the  pasturage,  and  the  grove  from  the  orchard, 
and  designates  the  character  of  the  woodland.  It  speaks  a  universal  language, 
and  observes  strict  fidelity  to  nature. 

Depending  upon  the  secondary  triangulation  and  the  topography  for  its  means 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


of  progress,  follows  the  Hydrography.  In  this  term  is  included  all  that  concerns 
local  navigation,  as  the  depths  and  character  of  the  hottom,  the  direction  and 
strength  of  the  currents,  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  tides,  and  the  information, 
coming  under  the  head  of  sailing  directions  and  nautical  instruction,  which  make 
up  the  valuable  knowledge  of  the  local  or  general  pilot.  This  branch  enjoys  the 
honor  of  announcing  the  nautical  discoveries  of  the  coast  survey,  which,  though 
resulting  from  the  combined  operations  of  all,  are  yet  brought  out  by  its  means. 

In  the  preceding  pages  the  plan  of  the  snrvey  is  presented,  and  the  general 
distribution  of  its  labors  is  stated ;  it  remains  now  to  speak  of  the  execution  of 
the  various  details,  and  of  the  benefits  that  have  been  conferred  by  the  coast 
survey  npon  science,  and  upon  the  local  and  general  commerce  of  the  country  and 
of  the  world.  In  doing  this  it  will  be  most  convenient  to  keep  to  its  actual  state 
at  this  day. 

On  the  death  of  Mr.  Hassler,  in  1843,  the  appointment  of  his  successor  was 
regarded  with  deep  interest  by  the  scientific  men  of  the  country.  The  office  of 
Superintendent  of  the  Coast  Survey  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  central  positions 
of  American  science,  and  the  incumbent  is  expected  not  only  to  be  able  to  fulfil 
its  prescribed  duties,  but  to  be  qualified  to  direct  his  powers  to  the  advancement 
of  knowledge  in  every  department  of  the  work.  How  far  the  present  Superin- 
tendent, Professor  Bache,  is  suited  to  answer  these  expectations,  to  sustain  the 
national  reputation,  and  to  promote  the  cause  of  science,  may  be  estimated  from 
the  fact,  that  his  appointment  was  solicited  by  gentlemen  in  all  parts  of  the 
country,  engaged  in  the  pursuits  of  learning.  He  was  educated  at  "West  Point,  and 
since  his  graduation  there,  followed  a  course  of  physical  science  that  has  made 
him  well  kown  in  this  country  and  in  Europe.  It  is  but  justice  to  Professor 
Bache  to  say,  that  there  is  no  branch  of  the  work  into  which  he  has  not  been  able 
to  introduce  improvements,  either  owing  to  the  discoveries  of  the  day,  as  in  the 
use  of  the  magnetic  telegraph  for  meridian  differences,  or  owing  (still  oftener)  to 
his  own  great  and  eminent  scientific  attainments.  This  must  appear  in  the  course 
of  these  remarks,  but  it  is  quite  as  creditable  to  his  administration  to  state,  as  may 
be  done  with  strict  accuracy,  that  the  amount  of  results  now  obtained  is  double 
that  under  the  former  plan,  for  an  increase  of  fifty  per  cent,  in  the  cost. 

Accompanying  the  primary  triangulation,  as  an  essential  part  of  it,  are  the 
astronomical  and  magnetic  observations.  The  determinations  of  the  latitude  (as 
well  as  of  the  azimuths)  are  frequent.  About  fifty  latitude  stations,  and  from 
thirty-five  to  forty  azimuth  stations,  have  been  already  occupied  in  the  survey. 
A  comparison  of  the  latitudes  deduced  geodetically  from  a  central  point  with 
astronomical  determinations,  led  the  Superintendent,  in  1844,  to  the  discovery 
of  certain  variations  in  the  level,  which  could  only  be  attributed  to  changes  in 
form  and  density  of  the  material  composing  the  earth's  crust.  These  variations 
are  similar  to  those  caused  by  the  proximity  of  mountains  ;  but  whilst  the  latter 
have  been  well  understood,  the  former  had  escaped  notice.  The  numerous  deter- 
minations of  this  element  will  therefore  occupy  an  important  place  in  the  future 
discussions  of  the  general  form  and  internal  structure  of  the  earth.  A  similar 
discovery  has  since  been  made  in  the  ordnance  survey  of  Ireland  by  Major-Gen- 
eral  Colby,  and  appears  to  have  been  anticipated  by  Laplace  in  the  opinion  given 
by  him  in  the  Chamber  of  Peers,  in  1817,  upon  the  topographical  map  of  France  :• — 
"  If  the  latitudes  of  the  extreme  points  (of  certain  lines)  and  of  several  intermediate 
points  are  observed,  and  the  length  of  the  seconds  pendulum  corresponding  to 
these  points  measured,  a  great  deal  of  light  will  be  thrown  upon  the  figure  of  the 
earth,  and  upon  the  irregularities  of  its  degrees  and  of  gravity." 

Of  the  magnetic  observations  it  will  be  sufficient  to  say,  as  an  indication  of 
their  character,  that  they  are  made  with  the  new  instruments  invented  by  Dr. 
Lloyd  and  Mr.  Weber.  The  portable  declinometer  of  Mr.  Weber  (perfected  by 
Lieutenant  Riddle,  and  manipulated  according  to  his  instructions)  measures  incli- 
nation, and,  by  a  subsidiary  apparatus,  the  horizontal  force,  by  the  method  of 
Gauss.  Fox's  dip  circle,  with  the  use  of  the  deflecting  magnet,  has  given  very 
satisfactory  results.  By  means  of  these  instruments,  the  declination,  inclination, 
and  intensity  (horizontal  and  total),  are  determined  in  a  manner  that  supplies 
all  that  is  practically  necessary,  and  contributes  valuable  additions  to  general 
magnetic  researches. 

Longitudes  have  been  determined  by  occultations,  eclipses,  moon-culminations, 
and  the  frequent  transportation  of  chronometers.  Mr.  Bond,  the  director  of  the 
observatory  at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  communicates  the  meridian  differences  by 
chronometers  between  the  British  observatories  and  Boston.  Two  special  chro- 
nometer expeditions  have  been  organized  between  Cambridge  and  Liverpool. 

All  determinations  of  this  element  are  referred  to  a  principal  port  on  the  sea- 
coast,  and  are  connected  in  the  aggregate  with  differences  obtained  from  Europe 
by  chronometric  and  astronomical  comparisons.  The  security  against  error  af- 
forded by  employing  persons  to  compute,  who  are  disconnected  with  the  duties 
of  the  field  or  the  observatory,  is  well  understood.  Gentlemen  in  private  life  are 
engaged  to  repeat  the  important  calculations  of  the  survey,  and  this  system,  which 
enlarges  the  sphere  of  labor  in  a  way  not  less  commendable  for  its  economy  than 
for  its  other  advantages,  receives  universal  sanction. 

But  the  discoveries  of  Professor  Henry  (Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Insti- 


tute), resulting  in  the  invention  of  the  magnetic  telegraph,  have  provided  a  new 
and  more  precise  method  of  arriving  at  the  difference  between  the  times  of  two 
places,  or  their  difference  of  longitude  expressed  in  time.  The  details  of  these 
operations  were  worked  out  under  the  direction  of  the  Superintendent  by  the  late 
lamented  S.  C.  Walker. 

The  space  circumscribed  by  the  terrestrial  angles  of  the  first  order,  and  defined 
by  the  celestial  observations  that  accompany  them,  is  subdivided  into  a  minute 
network  of  smaller  triangles,  constituting  the  secondary  and  tertiary  triangula- 
tions,  the  points  of  which  embrace  and  determine  headlands,  light-houses,  beacons, 
churches,  hills,  and  all  conspicuous  objects  along  the  coast,  that  can  be  made  use- 
ful in  its  navigation.  They  also  bring  down  the  work  to  the  details  of  the  topo- 
graphy and  hydrography,  and  supply  the  bases  for  these  branches  of  the  snrvey. 

It  has  been  already  mentioned,  that  the  topography  is  minutely  and  exactly 
descriptive  of  the  ground,  both  in  form  and  character.  The  Lehman  system  of 
topographical  drawing  has  been  adopted,  but  with  such  modifications  as  the  na- 
ture of  this  country  exacted,  in  order  to  preserve  the  beauty  of  the  maps.  The 
slopes  are  represented  by  hachures,  the  strength  and  distance  apart  of  which 
indicate  the  degree  of  inclination.  In  the  original  maps,  the  horizontal  curves 
limiting  the  different  slopes  are  drawn  in  red  ink,  as  the  draughtsman  progresses 
in  his  sheet. 

The  scale  of  the  original  sheets  is  nrJ-jj,  or  about  6j  inches  English  to  the 
mile.  Plans  are  frequently  executed  in  the  field,  and  furnished  from  the  office, 
when  wanted  for  local  improvement,  on  twice  this  scale.  But  the  charts  designed 
for  navigators  are  necessarily  reduced  in  dimension.  The  harbor  charts  are  usually 
published  on  the  scale  of  -j^jnr,  or  about  3^  inches  English,  and  the  more  general 
charts  on  that  of  s^-f^,  or  about  three-fourths  of  an  inch  to  the  mile  ;  which  last 
is  the  scale  of  the  great  topographical  map  of  France.  In  all  the  maps,  the  topo- 
graphical details  are  faithfully  preserved,  including  height,  contour,  &c. 

To  pursue  the  history  of  the  operations  of  the  survey  during  each  year,  would 
require  more  space  than  can  be  allotted  to  the  subject  in  the  Recoed,  and  we  con- 
clude this  sketch  by  a  brief  relation  of  its  aggregate  results  up  to  1851.  Recon- 
naissance has  extended  over  an  area  of  nearly  37,000  square  miles ;  and  the  trian- 
gulation covers  24,000  square  miles.  Nearly  1,200  miles  of  general  coast  line, 
and  9,000  miles  of  actual  shore  line,  including  indentations,  have  been  surveyed. 
About  500  topographic,  and  200  hydrographic  sheets  have  been  executed,  and 
the  soundings  made  amount  to  more  than  two  millions  and  a  quarter .  Forty-four 
finished  charts,  and  forty-one  preliminary  charts  and  sketches  of  important  locali- 
ties have  been  published.  Numerous  statistical  data  of  this  kind  may  be  found 
in  the  annual  report. 

A  feature  of  much  interest  and  importance  in  the  more  recent  history  of  the 
survey,  is  the  addition  of  two  sections  on  the  Pacific  coast  to  its  field  of  active 
operations.  It  has  not  only  pushed  its  parties  into  all  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf  sec- 
tions, but  has  already  made  a  complete  general  reconnaissance  of  our  entire 
Western  Coast,  and  has  published,  or  advanced  to  a  state  of  forwardness,  the  maps 
embodying  these  results  in  a  form  most  serviceable  to  navigation.  Its  parties 
have  also  made  detailed  surveys  of  all  the  principal  harbors  along  this  coast,  as 
well  as  made  excellent  latitude  and  longitude  determinations.  Thus  the  navigator 
is  already  able  to  thread  his  way  along  that  newly  peopled-shore,  with  such  aids  as 
he  still  lacks  on  portions  of  our  Eastern  sea-margins.  Special  appropriations  have 
been  made  to  urge  forward  this  important  work,  and  it  is  surely  a  most  sagacious 
policy  to  survey  accurately  and  in  detail  those  rapidly  developed  frontiers  of  our 
national  domain.  A  systematic  triangulation,  and  determination  of  points  for  a 
connected  topography  and  hydrography,  have  already  made  a  good  beginning.  Its 
consummation  must  be  the  work  of  from  twelve  to  fifteen  years. 

The  dangerous  character  of  the  Florida  reef,  extending  for  its  entire  length 
along  a  main  highway  of  commerce,  and  producing  a  fearful  lo9s  of  life  and  pro- 
perty, has  led  to  successive  specific  appropriations  for  its  more  rapid  survey.  This 
work  has  progressed  quite  satisfactorily,  especially  when  the  difficulty  of  the  lo- 
cality and  the  extremely  jagged  coral  sea-bottom  are  borne  in  mind.  The  study  of 
coral  characteristics  is  a  highly  interesting  collateral,  and  Professor  Agassiz,  in  the 
annual  report  of  1851,  has  given  the  results  of  an  examination  undertaken  for  the 
Coast  Survey.  Lieut.  Rodgers'  survey  of  Key  West  and  its  vicinity,  gives  a  most 
interesting  picture  of  a  coral  bottom,  and  vividly  suggests  the  importance  of  sub- 
marine blasting  to  open  a  better  channel  into  that  important  harbor.  The  Florida 
triangulation  is  one  of  peculiar  difficulty,  owing  to  the  flat  and  overgrown  char- 
acter of  the  country,  and  the  distance  of  the  reef. 

In  conclusion,  we  state  that  the  rate  of  progress  of  the  survey  points  to  its 
completion  in  about  twelve  years,  though  this  time  might  be  shortened,  if  desired, 
by  increasing  the  appropriations.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  no  vacillation  of  policy  in 
respect  to  an  enterprise  so  truly  national  and  beneficial,  is  destined  to  check  its 
progress,  or  interfere  with  its  present  systematic  organization, — which,  placing  it 
under  the  Treasury  Department,  makes  it  an  open  field  for  the  employment  of  both 
navy  and  army  officers,  as  well  as  the  civil  assistants  so  indispensable  to  its  organic 
completeness.  It  is  now  well,  and  the  straightforward  duty  of  our  Government  is 
to  make  liberal  appropriations,  and  practise  laissez /aire. 

41 


THE  INDUSTRY 


SAXTON'S  METALLIC  DEEP-SEA  THERMOMETER. 

AMONG  the  many  problems  of  terrestrial  physics,  which  both  invite  and  baffle 
complete  investigation,  one  of  the  grandest  and  most  attractive  is  that  pre- 
sented by  Ocean  temperatures.  To  determine  tho  temperatures  which  character- 
ize the  various  depths,  localities,  and  seasons  throughout  the  vast  expanse  of  the 
oceanic  realm,  is  a  work  of  immense  labor,  but  one  which  cannot  fail  to  givo 
some  results  of  eminent  practical  and  theoretical  value.  Very  little  has  yet  been 
accomplished  towards  this  almost  boundless  investigation,  but  that  little  has  not 
been  without  fruit.  In  conducting  tho  off-shore  hydrography  of  the  TJ.  S.  Coast 
Survey,  the  proximity  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  and  its  important  bearings  on  the  chief 
highways  of  our  commerce,  have  made  it  specially  incumbent  on  the  Coast  Survey 
organization  to  develop  the  great  physical  features  of  this  phenomenon  with  as 
much  accuracy  as  possible.  The  exigency  of  the  work  of  sounding  along  the 
shore  has  hitherto  prevented  the  application  of  any  great  strength  to  the  Gulf 
Stream  problems,  but  several  results  of  much  interest,  as  to  its  form,  position, 
movements,  and  temperatures,  have  been  already  reached  in  more  or  less  detail. 

The  most  casual  inspection  will  show  that  the  Gulf  Stream  is  one  of  the  great 
oceanic  movements,  or  disturbances  of  equilibrium,  caused  by  the  varying  tem- 
peratures of  its  different  tracts  in  the  different  seasons.  Temperature  is  the  prime 
moving  element,  which  needs  to  be  observed  and  reasoned  upon  with  all  possible 
care,  to  give  that  thorough  and  true  explanation  which  every  one  desires,  but  no 
one  possesses.  How  to  observe  the  deep-sea  temperatures  which  are  thus  dis- 
turbing the  rest  of  the  ocean — how  to  bring  up,  from  a  depth  of  several  miles,  a 
trustworthy  reading  of  the  heat  which  prevails  in  those  unexplored  recesses,  is.  a 
question  which  demands  an  answer  before  the  Gulf  Stream  can  be  fully  compre- 
hended in  its  fundamental  facts. 

The  proposed  investigations  are  seriously  obstructed  by  the  enormous  pres- 
sures in  the  regions  to  be  explored,  which  derange  all  common  contrivances.  The 
ordinary  glass  thermometers  were  repeatedly  tried  in  the  Coast  Survey  sound- 
ings, but  as  uniformly  broken.  Attempts  were  made  to  protect  them  by  strong 
metallic  cases,  which  were  also  crushed  in,  as  illustrated  by  an  example  now 
exhibited  among  the  contributions  of  the  Coast  Survey  at  the  Crystal  Palace. 
Mr.  Saxton,  the  eminently  ingenious  and  successful  head  of  the  Instrument 
Department  in  the  Coast  Survey  Office,  then  devised  the  deep-sea  thermometer, 
which  bears  his  name,  and  which  has  been  used  for  several  years  with  entire  suc- 
cess. Some  accidents,  not  faults  of  the  instrument,  have  had  the  effect  to  prevent 
such  extensive  observations  as  Mr.  Bache  had  provided  for,  but  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  each  year  will  contribute  to  the  number  of  our  re- 
j  J  liable  observations  with  this  elegant  apparatus.    One  of 

s  these  beautiful  instruments  is  on  exhibition  in  the  Coast 

j  Survey  collection  at  the  Crystal  Palace ;  and  we  proceed 

'  to  state  its  principle  and  the  arrangement  of  its  parts. 


The  main  feature  is  a  compound  spiral  or  helical  band  or  ribbon,  composed  of 
42 


OF    ALL  NATIONS. 

 %  

two  similar  plates  firmly  united  along  their  surface  of  contact,  the  outer  one  being 
of  silver,  and  the  inner  one  of  platinum.  As  the  rates  of  expansion  of  these  two 
metals  are  widely  different,  the  variation  of  temperature  to  which  the  spiral 
is  exposed,  will  produce  a  considerable  movement  of  torsion,  or  rotation,  at  the 
bottom  of  the  helix,  the  top  being  fixed.  This  principle  is  familiar  in  Bre- 
guet's  torsion  thermometer,  and  Mr.  Saxton  has  only  applied  it  to  a  novel  case, 
with  an  improved  arrangement  at  the  upper  extremity  of  tho  spiral,  for  mag- 
nifying and  reading  the  indication  furnished.  The  motion  of  rotation,  given  by  a 
change  of  temperature,  is  very  well  fitted  for  reading,  as  by  gearing  it  up,  it  gives 
a  quite  ample  rotation  to  an  index  hand.  Within  the  spiral  is  a  hollow  tube,  to 
which  at  the  top  the  spiral  is  screwed  fast,  as  shown  in  Fig.  1.  Within  this  tube 
is  a  small  rod  or  axle,  which  is  connected  with  the  bottom  of  the  spiral,  and 
turns  freely  on  a  supporting  pivot,  so  as  to  communicate  the  torsion  rotation  to  a 
toothed  silver  wheel  on  its  top,  which  is  shown  in  Fig.  2 :  that  part  only  being 
toothed  which  will  be  needed.  A  small  pinion,  which  bears  the  index  hand, 
takes  up  the  motion,  and  is  made  to  traverse  the  graduated  silver  rim,  and 
carry  with  it  a  stop  hand,  Fig.  3,  which  will  indicate  the  maximum  or  minimum 
temperatures  passed  in  the  descent,  according  to  its  arrangement.  Surface  tem- 
peratures are  read  off  at  once,  and  the  sounding  lines  give  the  depths. 

The  whole  of  this  arrangement  is  inclosed  in  a  firm  metal  case,  as  shown  in 
Fig.  4,  which  protects  it  from  injury,  and  yet  permits  the  water  to  pass  freely 
around  the  spiral,  causing  it  instantly  to  take  the  temperature  of  its  locality. 


Tho  top  case  is  covered  with  a  cap,  pierced  with  small  holes  to  permit  the  water 
to  pass  freely.  The  whole  case  is  then  mounted  in  a  metal  frame  by  means  of 
two  rings.  The  top  ring  turns  on  two  side  pivots,  to  permit  the  insertion  of  the 
case ;  but  the  lower  ring  is  in  halves,  one  of  which  ie  fixed,  and  the  other  opens 
out  to  receive  the  case,  after  which  it  closes,  and  is  tightly  clamped.  An  eye  at  the 
top  receives  the  sounding-line,  and  one  at  the  bottom  any  requisite  sinking  weights. 
All  the  delicate  parts  of  this  thermometer,  which  could  be  corroded,  are  heavily 
electro-plated  with  gold,  by  Mr.  Mathiot,  in  the  Coast  Survey  Electrotype  Labora- 
tory, so  that  they  are  not  liable  to  injury  with  fair  treatment. 

In  using  this  instrument  it  is  thrown  from  the  side  of  the  vessel  at  successive 
times,  first  observing  the  surface  temperature,  and  then  sinking  it  to  a  small 
depth,  and  again  to  one  a  little  greater,  and  so  on,  till  it  can  be  decided  that  the 
stop  hand  indication  belongs  to  the  greatest  depth  attained.  The  passing  of  a 
point  of  maximum  or  minimum  temperature,  however,  complicates  the  problem, 
and  makes  it  a  matter  of  critical  judgment  to  connect  the  temperature  and  depth 
with  accuracy.  In  the  hands  of  good  observers,  it  yields  excellent  results, 
and,  though  not  all  that  could  be  desired,  is  still  a  most  excellent  instrument 
within  the  range  of  its  capacities.  Its  cost,  made  in  tho  limited  numbers  required  in 
the  operations  of  the  Coast  Survey,  is  about  sixty  dollars,  though  a  demand  for  con- 
siderable numbers  would  much  reduce  this  amount.  We  trust  that  this  or  some  bet- 
ter instrument,  if  possible,  will  hereafter  be  employed  with  increased  zeal  in  the 
study,  not  only  of  Gulf  Stream  temperatures,  but  of  the  ocean  throughout  its  whole 
expanse,  and  even  in  our  lakes  and  tho  interior  seas  of  the  whole  world.  Surface 
temperatures  alone  are  quite  insufficient  to  give  correct  results,  for  the  solar  radi- 
ation produces  a  great  effect  on  the  superficial  layers,  and  we  must  penetrate  to 
one  or  two  hundred  feet  before  we  enter  on  the  grand  temperature  scale.  A 
minimum  temperature  is  usually  passed  in  descending,  at  that  depth  where  the 
sun's  effects  may  be  assumed  to  terminate,  and  we  then  enter  on  an  increasing 
scale  of  temperatures,  which,  according  to  one  of  Prof.  Bache's  discussions,  give, 
with  the  co-ordinates  of  depth,  a  curve  clearly  and  obviously  the  logarithmic 
curve.    The  connection  between  this  result,  and  some  of  tho  grand  results  of  that 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


theory  of  heat  which  treats  it  as  an  elastic  fluid,  is  striking  and  eminently  suggest- 
ive, though  too  recondite  to  be  more  than  mentioned  here.  There  is  then  a  vast 
field  of  research,  full  of  interest  and  promise,  for  whose  exploration  this  ther- 
mometer is,  we  believe,  the  most  reliable  instrument,  and  we  trust  it  will  there- 
fore be  put  into  increasingly  active  requisition. 


TYPE  FOUNDING. 

THE  early  printers  in  Germany  made  their  letters  in  Gothic  and  semi-Gothic 
forms ;  and  Caxton,  in  England,  and  Antoine  Verard,  in  France,  printed  their 
works  with  a  style  of  letter  imitating  the  handwriting  of  that  period.  In  Italy, 
under  the  influence  of  the  beautiful  manuscripts,  more  common  there  than  else- 
where, and  of  the  excellent  taste  of  the  early  printers,  the  form  of  the  letters  was 
completely  changed  into  the  style  which  we  use  at  the  present  day,  under  the 
name  of  Eoman  letters.  In  1462,  Louis  XL,  of  France,  sent  Nicholas  Jenson,  an 
engraver  in  his  service,  to  Mayence  to  learn  the  new  art  of  printing.  But  Jenson, 
for  political  reasons,  established  himself  in  Venice,  and  engraved  there  the  beauti- 
ful Roman  characters,  which  Garamond  afterwards  took  as  models  in  engraving 
the  types  employed  by  the  Elzevirs  in  their  celebrated  books.  The  Roman  charac- 
ters were  also  adopted  by  the  Aldi  ami  the  Stephani,  whose  beautiful  and  finished 
works  it  is  the  glory  of  modern  printers  to  imitate  and  rival.  But  little  improve- 
ment has  been  made  in  the  art  of  casting  types  since  its  invention,  which  goes 
back  to  the  origin  of  printing  itself.  The  types  made  by  Baskerville  and  by  Didot, 
are  not  more  elegant  and  perfectly  finished  than  the  earlier  masterpieces  of  the 
art  which  we  have  mentioned.  The  innumerable  changes  which  have  been  intro- 
duced into  the  shapes  and  relative  proportions  of  letters  by  the  caprice  of  modern 
engravers,  are  retrograde  changes,  the  fashion  for  a  while,  and  then  forgotten.  The 
old  letters  of  Garamond  and  Jenson  have  been  again  employed  by  Pickering  and 
other  eminent  English  publishers,  and  will  probably  always  maintain  their  place 
with  printers  of  taste. 

In  the  United  States,  types  were  first  cast  in  1735  by  Christopher  Sower,  at 
Germantown.  Unsuccessful  attempts  were  made  in  1768  to  establish  type-foundries, 
one  in  Boston,  and  another  in  Connecticut ;  but  not  long  after  the  close  of  the  War 
of  Independence,  the  first  regular  type-foundry  was  set  up  in  Philadelphia  by 
Baine,  who  came  there  from  Edinburgh.  In  1790,  Messrs.  Binney  &  Ronaldson 
also  commenced  the  business  in  Philadelphia,  and  met  with  great  success  from 
the  growing  number  of  newspaper  and  other  job  offices,  which,  in  ten  years,  in- 
creased the  amount  of  printing  threefold,  and  caused  a  corresponding  extension  of 
the  business  of  type-founding.  These  gentlemen  are  credited  with  the  first  im- 
provement made  in  the  art  since  its  invention.  It  is  a  type-mould,  which  was  in- 
troduced into  Europe  at  the  commencement  of  this  century,  and  is  known  there 
as  the  American  Mould.  By  this  mould  6000  types  are  cast  as  easily  as  4000  by  the 
old  process.  The  first  extensive  foundry  in  New- York  was  established  in  1811, 
by  Mr.  White.  He  had  before  been  a  type-founder  in  Hartford,  where  he  had 
invented  and  used  a  method  of  casting  several  letters  together,  but  this  device 
was  dropped  after  his  removal  to  New- York.  Another  type-foundry  was  erected 
in  1813  by  Messrs.  Bruce.  The  business  has  since  been  extended  to  keep  pace 
with  the  increased  number  of  newspapers  and  books  published  here,  and  each  of 
the  principal  cities  of  the  Northern  and  Western  States  now  has  one  or  more 
type-foundries.  These  give  employment  to  about  800  persons,  and  produce  daily 
between  4000  and  5000  pounds  of  type.  They  furnish  nearly  all  the  types  used  on 
this  continent.  Some  of  the  finer  book-work  is  still  done,  however,  with  English 
types,  anfRke  Oriental  founts,  and  the  beautiful  Porsonian  Greek  type,  employed 
at  Mr.  Trow's  University  Press  in  this  city,  ai'e  also  imported. 

The  first  and  most  important  step  in  type-founding  is  to  prepare  the  punches. 
They  are  pieces  of  soft  steel,  npon  each  of  which  the  engraver  cuts  a  single  letter 
with  all  possible  accuracy,  and  they  are  then  carefully  tempered.  The  face  of  the 
punch  resembles  the  finished  type.  Its  impression,  made  in  soft  copper,  is  called 
a  matrix ;  it  is  the  mould  which  forms  the  face  of  the  type.  The  mould  of  the 
shank  is  made  of  two  pieces  of%teel,  which  fit  accurately  to  each  other  and  the 
matrix,  and  are  inclosed  in  wood  for  convenience  of  handling.  The  type  metal 
is  poured  into  a  funnel-shaped  orifice  at  the  top,  and  by  a  peculiar  movement  of 
the  caster's  arm,  is  thrown  into  the  cavities  of  the  matrix.  When  the  metal  is 
set,  the  founder  detaches  the  matrix  from  the  face  of  the  type,  and  the  mould  is 
then  opened  and  the  type  removed.  The  overplus  of  metal  which  filled  the  fun- 
nel is  next  broken  off,  and  the  sides  of  the  types  are  rubbed  smooth,  after  which 
they  are  secured  in  frames,  and  have  their  ends  cut  smooth,  and  the  lower  one  also 
ground.  The  process  of  bearding,  which  consists  in  bevelling  the  angle  of  the 
body  below  the  letters,  is  performed  at  the  same  time.  Types  of  the  same  fount 
are  distinguished  by  one  or  more  nicks  upon  the  lower  edge  or  end,  which  enables 
the  compositor  to  set  them  correctly  without  looking  at  each.  The  composition 
of  type  metal  is  various.    Lead  forms  about  75  per  cent,  of  the  alloy;  it  is  united 


most  commonly  with  antimony,  but  sometimes  with  copper,  brass,  tin,  or  bismuth. 
Within  a  few  years,  types  have  also  been  made  by  powerful  steel  punches  from 
plates  of  cold  copper ;  but  we  have  not  learned  whether  they  have  come  into  use. 

The  first  successful  machine  for  casting  type  was  invented  twenty-five  years 
ago,  by  Mr.  William  M.  Johnson.  It  did  not  come  into  general  use,  probably  be- 
cause the  types  manufactured  by  it  were  not  as  solid  and  durable  as  those  made 
in  hand-moulds.  The  latter  continued  to  furnish  the  ordinary  means  of  type- 
casting until  six  or  eight  years  since,  when  the  Type-Casting  Machine,  of  which 
we  give  an  engraving,  was  invented  by  David  Bruce  jr.,  of  New- York.  Its  merits 
have  been  thoroughly  tested  by  L.  Johnson  &  Co.,  of  Philadelphia,  who  exhibit 
the  machine,  and  cast  type  with  it  in  the  Crystal  Palace.  These  gentlemen  have 
applied  it  in  their  extensive  establishment  to  the  manufacture  of  almost  every 
variety  of  type,  and  have  attained  a  degree  of  finish  and  accuracy  entirely  satis- 
factory. The  peculiar  merit  of  Bruce's  Machine  is,  that  it  produces  solid  and  sub- 
stantial types  with  great  rapidity — the  limit  being  in  the  time  required  for  the 
metal  to  solidify  after  entering  the  mould.  The  force  with  which  the  liquid  metal 
is  injected  into  the  mould  is  so  great,  that  the  proportion  of  the  defective  letters 
is  much  smaller  than  in  hand-casting.  The  fine  lines  of  the  matrix  are  brought 
out  sharp  and  unbroken. 

The  space  occupied  by  the  machine  is  about  14  by  20  inches;  including  the 
wooden  frame  on  which  it  rests,  it  is  three  feet  high.  A  pot  filled  with  type-metal 
occupies  the  back  part,  and  a  small  furnace,  fed  with  anthracite  coal,  is  placed  be- 
neath it,  or  a  gas-burner  powerful  enough  to  maintain  the  fluidity  of  the  metal.  A 
cylindrical  tube  or  pump,  stands  vertically  under  the  metal,  and  has  a  spout  project- 
ing from  the  front  side  of  the  pot.  A  piston  rod,  set  in  motion  by  a  revolving  crank, 
moves  up  and  down  in  the  cylinder,  and  at  every  revolution  injects  a  small  quantity 
of  the  metal  into  the  mould,  which,  at  the  proper  moment,  comes  closely  up  to  the 
spout  to  receive  it.  After  the  metal  has  been  received  and  hardened,  which  is  done 
almost  instantly,  the  mould  recedes  a  few  inches,  its  upper  half  rises,  and  the  type 
is  thrown  out  into  a  gutter  leading  to  the  receiving  box.  The  type  is  then  ready  to 
be  finished  as  we  have  already  described.  The  power  required  for  the  various  move- 
ments, is  communicated  by  cams  arranged  along  an  axle,  whose  crank  is  turned 
by  the  right  hand  of  the  caster. 

All,  or  nearly  all,  the  types  produced  in  American  foundries  are  cast  by  ma- 


chines ;  the  only  exceptions  that  we  know  of  being  large,  ornamental  type.  Ma- 
chines have  been  sent  from  the  United  States  to  Europe,  and  others  have  been  in- 
vented there,  but  they  have  not  been  much  used  except  in  Germany.  They  are 
well  known  to  type-founders  in  England,  but  have  never  been  employed  by  them, 

43 


THE    INDUSTRY  O 


F    ALL  NATIONS. 


probably  in  deference  to  the  prejudices  of  the  workmen  in  their  service.  The  use 
of  machines  for  casting  has  contributed  to  reduce  the  price  of  type  within  a  few 
years,  but  it  is  still  an  expensive  article,  not  so  much  from  the  cost  of  the  ma- 
terials, as  from  the  labor  required  to  cast  and  finish  it,  each  type  having  to  pass 
through  fivo  separate  operations;  and  they  are  also  subject  to  rapid  wear  and 
deterioration,  both  when  they  are  actually  employed  in  printing  and  when  stereo- 
types are  cast  from  them. 

Printers  in  the  early  days  of  the  Art,  and  indeed  until  recent  times,  cut  and 
cast  the  type  themselves,  as  well  as  executed  all  other  operations  connected  with 
their  profession,  which  are  now  divided  among  many  distinct  trades.  This  divi- 
sion of  labor,  and  the  excessivo  competition  consequent  upon  it,  have  had  the 
effect  to  destroy  the  original  and  personal  characteristics  which  belonged  to  the 
work  of  ancient  typographers. 

The  art  of  type-founding  has  now  been  successfully  applied  to  every  variety 
of  language  and  alphabetic  form.  The  reduction  of  the  intricate  and  complex 
characters  of  Chinese  to  type  is  a  triumph  of  the  art.  In  the  truly  magnificent 
display  of  the  typographic  art  at  the  Exhibition  of  1851,  three  methods  of  print- 
ing Chinese  were  exhibited,  and  all  of  themare  now  successfully  employed  in  Europe 
and  in  Canton.  The  historical  importance  of  saving  from  oblivion  the  languages 
and  idioms  of  the  human  races,  can  be  fully  appreciated  only  by  the  philologist, 
and  it  would  be  foreign  to  our  purpose  to  remark  upon  it  here. 


ASSIGNMENT  OF  SPACE. 

THE  following  Official  Report  of  the  General  Superintendent  of  the  Crystal  Pal- 
ace, to  the  Board  of  Directors,  shows  the  views  and  objects,  which  regulated 
the  assignment  of  space  in  the  Exhibition  of  the  "World's  Industry : 

Report  on  the  assignment  of  space  to  home  and  foreign  exhibitors,  and  to  the 
several  classes  into  which  the  Exhibition  was  distributed. 

Three  different  methods  of  national  assignment  were  considered. 
One  was  geographical  in  its  principle — the  building  being  octagonal  in  its 
form,  it  was  proposed  to  lay  a  plan  of  it  upon  a  general  map,  and  to  place  the 
nations  as  nearly  as  possible  according  to  their  relative  geographical  positions. 
The  second  was  to  distribute  the  nations  through  the  building  by  lot. 
The  third  was  to  assign  their  situations  arbitrarily,  and  with  a  special  refer- 
ence to  the  character  of  the  exhibition  of  each  nation. 

The  adoption  of  the  latter  method  was  rendered  almost  imperative  by  the 
situation  of  the  Machine  Arcade,  and  the  necessity  of  placing  England  and  America 
in  juxtaposition  with  this  part  of  the  building. 

By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  machinery  in  motion  will  belong  to  this  country. 
To  the  United  States,  therefore,  is  allotted  the  northeast  quarter  of  the  building 
which  is  nearest  the  seat  of  power,  the  boiler-house  being  on  the  opposite  side  of 
Forty-second  street. 

To  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  is  assigned  the  other  division,  (the  southeast), 
adjoining  the  machine-room. 

It  fortunately  so  happens  that  this  section  with  the  galleries  above,  afford  the 
amount  of  space  demanded  by  the  British  portion  of  the  Exhibition. 

The  two  largest  classes  of  exhibitors  being  thus  disposed  of  under  the  rule  of 
necessity,  the  distribution  of  remaining  nations  is  less  difficult.  Even  in  this, 
however,  circumstances  supply  a  guide. 

The  whole  of  the  northeastern  section,  with  the  corresponding  galleries,  are 
insufficient  for  the  American  part  of  the  Exhibition — it  is  necessary  to  cross  the 
north  nave,  and  occupy  some  courts  in  the  northwest  section. 

Again  the  contributions  of  France  and  the  States  of  Germany  are  of  them- 
selves nearly  enough  to  occupy  one  entire  quarter  of  the  building.  The  encroach- 
ment of  the  United  States  upon  the  northwest  division,  has  not  left  them  suffi- 
cient room  there — it  is  most  convenient  therefore  to  divide  between  them  the 
only  remaining  division — the  southwest, — which,  with  the  exception  of  two 
courts  allowed  to  Belgium,  they  fill  up  entirely,  their  lighter  productions  occupy- 
ing, as  in  other  cases,  the  corresponding  galleries. 

The  space  now  remaining  to  bo  assigned,  is  that  part  of  the  northwest  division 
which  is  not  filled  up  by  the  productions  of  this  country. 

This  is  capable  of  receiving  the  contributions  of  the  other  nations,  and  of  the 
British  Colonies.  In  this  are  placed  Switzerland,  Holland,  Austria,  Italy,  the 
Canadas,  Newfoundland,  British  Guiana,  &c. 

The  form  of  the  building  might  lead  to  the  opinion  that  there  was  a  greater 
choice  of  positions  with  reference  to  the  sun,  than  is  really  the  case.  For  those 
nations  that  suffer  the  disadvantage  of  a  southern  aspect  on  the  walls  bounding 
their  space,  have  the  advantage  of  north  and  west,  or  north  and  east  lights  on 
their  nave  fronts,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  nations  that  are  in  the  north  divi- 
sions, encounter  the  sun  on  the  lino  of  their  naves ;  consequently  there  is  no  great 
choice  of  positions  on  this  account. 

44 


In  the  national  assignment  of  space,  two  rules  have  in  general  been  observed. 
One  is  to  give  to  each  nation  the  gallery  above  its  floor  space,  another  to  give  to 
each  nation  a  front  on  some  one  of  the  naves. 

The  first  of  these  rules  could  not  be  invariably  followed.  Switzerland,  for 
example,  required  no  floor  but  only  gallery  space,  while  Holland,  Austria,  and  the 
British  Colonies  required  only  floor  space.  The  particular  cases  are  decided  by 
the  nature  of  the  property  exhibited. 

After  the  general  assignment  of  space  to  the  nations  comes  the  subdivision  among 
the  classes. 

The  machinery  in  the  case  of  Great  Britain  and  America  is  placed,  of  course, 
cither  in  or  adjoining  the  machine-room. 

The  sculpture  and  finer  products  of  artistic  skill,  the  paintings  excluded  (for 
which  there  is  a  distinct  gallery),  are  exhibited  with  the  best  effect  in  or  near 
the  naves.  It  is  my  purpose,  therefore,  in  the  local  distribution  of  the  classes,  to 
proceed  in  each  division  outward  towards  the  naves,  from  the  productions  of 
nature  to  the  works  of  art,  and  from  machinery  to  its  results. 

This  purpose  has  governed  me  in  the  arrangement  of  the  classes  in  the  Ameri- 
can department  of  the  Exhibition.  The  same  general  views  have  been  ap- 
plied, as  far  as  is  convenient  or  practicable,  in  the  other  national  departments. 

I  have  adopted  the  general  classification  of  the  materials  of  the  Exhibition, 
made  at  the  Great  Industrial  Exhibition  of  London,  with  slight  exceptions, 
one  of  which  is  the  subdivision  of  class  ten,  and  the  creation  of  a  new  class  of 
musical  instruments,  which  is  numbered  30. 

The  analysis  and  further  separation  of  th.^  classes,  I  leave  to  the  juries. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obt.  serv't. 

S.  F.  DU  PONT,  General  Superintendent. 

"We  add  to  the  Official  Report  of  the  Superintendent  the  list  of  Classes  under 
which  the  articles  have  been  arranged. 

LIST  OF  CLASSES  INTO  WHICH  ARTICLES  ARE  DIVIDED. 

Class  1.  Minerals,  Mining  and  Metallurgy,  and  Geological  and  Mining  Plans 
and  Sections. 

2.  Chemical  and  Pharmaceutical  Products  and  Processes. 

3.  Substances  used  as  Food. 

4.  Vegetable  and  Animal  Substances  employed  in  Manufactures. 

5.  Machines  for  direct  use,  including  Steam,  Hydraulic  and  Pneumatic  Engines, 
and  Railway  and  other  Carriages. 

6.  Machinery  and  Tools  for  Manufacturing  purposes. 

7.  Civil  Engineering,  Architectural  and  Building  Contrivances. 

8.  Naval  Architecture,  Military  Engineering,  Ordnance,  Armor,  and  Accou- 
trements. 

9.  Agricultural,  Horticultural  and  Dairy  Implements  and  Machines. 

f  10.  Philosophical  Instruments,  and  Products  resulting  from  their  use, 

j     e.  g.  Daguerreotypes,  &c.,)  Maps  and  Charts. 

I  10a.  Horology.  * 

[  10b.  Surgical  Instruments  and  appliances. 

11.  Manufactures  of  Cotton. 

12.  "         "  Wool. 

13.  "         "  Silk. 

14.  "         "  Flax  and  Hemp. 

15.  Mixed  Fabrics,  Shawls,  Vestings,  &c. 

16.  Leather,  Furs,  and  Hair,  and  their  Manufactures. 

17.  Paper  and  Stationery,  Types,  Printing,  and  Bookbinding. 

18.  Dyed  and  Printed  Fabrics,  shown  as  such, 

19.  Tapestry,  including  Carpets  and  Floor  Cloths,  Lace,  Embroidery.  Trim- 
mings, and  Fancy  Needlework.  | 

20.  Wearing  Apparel. 

21.  Cutlery  and  Edge  Tools. 

22.  Iron,  Brass,  Pewter,  and  General  Hardware,  including  Lamps,  Chandeliers, 
and  Kitchen  Furniture. 

23.  Work  in  Precious  Metals,  and  their  Imitations,  Jewelry,  and  other  Per- 
sonal Ornaments,  Bronzes,  and  articles  of  Vertu  generally. 

24.  Glass  Manufactures.  ■ 

25.  Porcelain  and  other  Ceramic  Manufactures. 

26.  Decorative  Furniture  and  Upholstery,  including  Papier-Mache\  Paper 
Hangings,  and  Japanned  Goods. 

27.  Manufactures  in  Marble,  Slate  and  other  Ornamental  Stones,  Cement,  &c, 
for  Construction  and  Decoration. 

28.  Manufactures  from  Animal  and  Vegetable  Substances,  not  woven  or 
felted  or  otherwise  specified. 

29.  Miscellaneous  Manufactures  and  Small  Wares,  Perfumery,  Confectionery, 
Toys,  Taxidermy,  &c. 

30.  Musical  Instruments. 

31.  Fine  Arts,  Sculpture,  Paintings.  Engravings,  &c. 


THE    NEW  - YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


We  fill  another  page  with  those  exquisite  ex- |  the  top  of  the  page,  and  the  adjoining  Chan- 
amples     of     art-manufacture,  deller,    are    contributions  of 


which  illustrate  and  sustain  the 
claim  of  France  to  artistic  pre- 
nence.     The  Bronze  Vase,  at 


Lerolle,  Freres.  The  globe 
which  forms  the  central  part  of 
the  latter,  is  covered  with  a 


rich  blue  enamel,  set  with  golden  stars,  I  as  the  branches  of  the  chandelier,  are  rich.y 
and  supports  a  female  figure,  which,  as  well  |  gilt 


The   large  Centre   Piece  is  ex-  |  hibited  by  Messrs.  Tiffany  Youno  <tc 


1M  XX 


Ellis,  of  New-York  and  Paris.  It  I  and  bronze,  the  one  in  the  Exhibition 
is  executed  by  them,  both  in  silver  |  being  silver.    The  supporting  figures 


The  piece  beneath,  representing  a  Wild  I  bronzes  exhibited  by  Aogusie  Weygant, 
Boar,    attacked    by  dogs,   is  one    of    the  |  of  Paris. 


45 


are  allegorical,  and  represent  the  I  sophy,  Earth,  Air,  Water,  and  Fire; 
elements  of  ancient  physical  philo-  |  the  two  latter  are  the  ones  in  view. 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


Italy  maintains  her  reputation  as  the  home  of  the 


Fine  Arts,  liy  her  numerous  contributions  of  statues  and    North  Naves,  and  the  Italian  quarter  are  filled  with  a  pro-    Aim. a  and  Chactas,  the  Indian  heroine  and  warrior  of 


paintings  to  the  Exhibition.    The  sides  of  the  West  and    fusion  of  these  beautiful  objects.    On  this  page  we  engrave 

Vn         1*     ^T  am  **  A  «  .    1      t    I  .  I   <    .     1   i  i  t  l         1  i  1  I     .     ]     lit  if  li    n    WmWrntm  Afftir    A       .  .  .  .     1        i    '  mm  m  ■  rm         *   1  .  1.1....  [.......       mmmmrn  .1   —  —  '  «.    _  f 


Chateaubriand,  the  work  of  Innocenzo  Fraccaroll,  a  I  The  winged  boy,  called  the  Genius  ok  Spring,  is  the  work  I  The  Maiiblk  Mantle,  with  which  we  conclude  this 
sculptor  of  Milan.  |  of  Pelliceia  director  of  the  Fine  Arts  Academy,  at  Carrare.  |  page,  is  exhibited  by  Joux  Kennedy,  of  New-York,  the 


designer  and  manufacturer.    Il  is  sculptured  in  the  renaissance  style,  with  friezes  of  foliage  and  grotesque  heads,  and  is  supported  by  figures  of  nymphs. 

46  * 


THE    NEW -  YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


From  the  examples  of  decorative  furniture  which  are 
exhibited  in  the  French  Department,  we  have  selected 


and  engraved  upon  this  page  a  large  and  beautiful  Bcffet, 
contributed  by  Rlnguet,  Leprince  <fc  Co.,  of  Paris  and 


Xew-York.  This  article,  we  are  informed,  was  manu- 
factured in  this  city,  although  it  is  placid  among  the 


The  Fire  Exgine,  of  which  we  give  an  illustration,  was  made  by  William  Jeffers,  Pawtucket,  R.  L    It  appears  to  be  of  excellent  workmanship 

4r 


THE    INDUS  THY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


There  nreno  more  beautiful  and  interesting  objects  in 
the  Exhibition  than  the  bronzes  of  the  French  Depart- 


ment. The  French  have  excelled  nil  others  in  this  ex-  of  the  workmanship,  or  the  beauty  of  the  designs  is  con- 
quisite  branch  of  art-manufacture,  whether  the  excellence    sidercd.    We  commence  our  illustrations  of  the  bronzed 


The  Emigrant,  a  plaster  model  of  life  size,  is  exhibited  by  S.  Lawlor,  London. 


with  three  subjects  from  the  contributions  of  Lerollb, 
Freres,  of  Paris.  The  elaborate  Clock  in  the  centre  repre- 
sents the  Conversion  of  a  Saracen.  It  is  accompanied  by  a 


Candelabrum  on  each  side,  one  of  which  is  supported  by 
the  figure  of  a  Moor,  and  the  other  by  a  Crusader. 
Both  of  these  bronzes  are  richly  gilt  and  silvered. 


We  engrave  two  elegant  Parlor  Chairs,  which  form  I  is  enamelled  in  white  with  gold  decorations,  and  up-  I  of  Louis  Quatorze ;  the  other  is  of  French  black 
part  of  the  contribut  ions  of  BaLHY,  Jr.,  of  Paris.    One  |  bolstered  with  white   and  red  damask,  in  the   style  |  walnut. 


4« 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


The  large  Candelabrum  upon  this  page  is  another  of  |  the  exquisitely  beautiful  bronzes  contributed  by  Lerolle 


foliated  stem  of  the  lights,  and  is  supported  in  front  by  a 
loosely -robed  Bacchante,  crowned  with  a  wreath  of  ivy 
and  grapes,  and  copied  from  a  sculpture  by  Canova. 


In  the  Austrian  Department  the  visitor's  attention  is  at 
tracted  by  a  curious  collection  of  variegated  marbles,  and 
the  fossil  ammonites  of  which  it  is  mainly  composed. 
The  two  Candelabra  here  given  are  cut  from  this  mar- 


ble. Thev  are  exhibited  by  J.  G.  Ramseur,  of  Hall- 
stadt,  Upper  Austria. 

The  adjoining  engraving  represents  the  Repeating 
Freres.    It  is  a  rich  example  of  the  style  of  Louis  XV.  |  From  a  base  of  marble  or  bronze,  rises  the  branching  and  Rifle,  invented  by  CoL  P.  W.  Porter,  of  Tennessee.  It 


is  an  excellent  example  of  the  beauty  and  good  work-  I  shows  to  a  considerable  extent,  the  mechanical  peculiari- 
manship  of  American  firearms.     The  engraving  also  |  ties  which  render  this  so  efficient  and  formidable  a 


weapon.  A  full  description  will  be  given  in  another 
part  of  the  Record. 

49 


THE    INDUSTRT    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


The  Centre  Piece,  silver  gilt,  representing  the  stems     tea  service— are  among  the  contributions  of  Mr.  Angell, 

of  London. 


The  Statue  of  a  female,  which  we  engrave  on  this 
page,  has  had  no  name  imposed  upon  it  by  the  sculptor. 


and  foliage  of  the  oak,  is  emblematic  of  Europe.  This 


Andrea  Boni,  of  Milan.    It  is  in  terra  cotta,  and  is  a  |  hardly  needs  to  be  named.    The  Cage  of  Cupids 


creditable  example  of  that  art. 

The  characteristic  work  which 
fills  the  remainder  of  the  page, 


plains  itself.  It  is  executed  in 
marble,  and  exhibited  by  Gae- 
tano  Motelli,  of  Milan. 


and  the  adjoining  Group  of  silver  ware — a  breakfast  or 


N  E  W-Y  O  R  K 


ILLUSTRATE  D. 


The  statue  representing  Erminia  writing  the  name  of 
her  lover,  Tancredi,  ia  the  work  of  Signor  Pellicula. 


The  Terra  Cotta  Vase  belongs  with  the  similar  Ameri- 
can objects  given  on  a  previous  page. 


mastiff.  He  has  just  broken  his  chain,  and  while  enjoy- 
ing his  new  liberty,  he  stops,  arrested  by  the  familiar 
sound  of  his  master's  voice.    The  half-open  mouth,  and 


protruding  tongue,  indicate  his  quick  panting ;  his  ears 
are  thrown  forward,  and  his  eyes  are  directed  towards 
the  point  from  which  the  sound  came.    The  expression  of 


K  - 

the  face  shows  the  good  nature  of  the  noble  animal,  as  if  I  We  engrave  one  of  the  Encaustic  Tiles,  for  whose 
he  only  waited  a  second  call  to  return.  The  Sentinel  is  a  |  manufacture  Messrs.  Mintox  ife  Co.  have  become  fa- 
likeness  of  a  dog  formerly  owned  by  T.  F.  Hoppin,  Esq.,  of  I  mous.  It  is  a  mediajval  art,  invented  probably  to  imi- 
Providence,  by  whom  it  was  modelled,  and  is  exhibited.  |  tate  Roman  mosaic  pavements.    Messrs.  Minton  enjoy 


The  spirited  Bronze  Dog,  called  the  Sentinel,  repre- 
nts  a  cross  between  the  St.  Bernard  and  the  English 


the  honor  of  having  restored  it,  following  the  ancient  I  means  to  produce  them    In  a  future  part  of  the  Record 
uses,  forms,  and  patterns,  but  inventing  new  mechanical  |  we  shall  describe  them  at  length  with  colored  illustrations, 
si 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


From  the  profusion  of  articles  in  terra  cotta  manufac- 
tured and  exhibited  by  Andrea  Boni  &  Co.,  of  Milan, 


we  engrave,  at  the  top  of  the  page,  an  elaborate  Pitcher, 
and  a  Group  of  statuettes,  the  figures  being  chiefly  Italian. 


it,  both  decorated  with  wreaths  of  flowers,  <tc,  in  white 
parian.    These  ornaments,  delicate  and  beautiful  as  they 


are  in  themselves,  from  their  high  relief,  and  the  under 
cutting  to  which  they  have  been  subjected,  are  unsuited 


'  -  ^   v .  W  ROBettrs.se 


Messrs.  T.  &  R.  Boote,  Burslem,  Staffordshire,  exhibit 
a  variety  of  articles  in  parian  and  porcelain  of  great  ex- 


cellence and  beauty.  We  select  a  Vase  of  blue  parian, 
and  a  graceful  Pitcuer,  or  Jug,  as  our  English  friends  call 


to  adorn  the  exterior  of  fictile  wares,  which  admit  no  |  naments  upon  the  Vase  in  the  adjoining  Group  exhibit- 

thpir^rf  «      Tl  sTihlY-  ab0Ve  ed  by  T-  J-  &  J-  Mayer,  of  Dale  Hall 

lint,             '  °r     brea,k  their  out-  \  JlK                         Pottery.  Staffordshire. 

lines.    Tins  apphes  equally  to  the  or-  ifc^                          A  Cab.net  of  ebony,  with  inlaid 


panels,  is  contributed  by  Rinquet,  Lepr^ce  &  Co.,  of  New-  |  York.    The  brass  gilt  ornaments,  which  are  abundantly 


displayed   upon  this  piece,  are   neither  beautiful   in  |  themselves,  nor  do  they  produce  a  pleasing  effect 

52 


THE    NEW -YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


VOLTA  BEFORE  NAPOLEON  AT  TUE   FI1ENCII  INSTITUTE, 


THE  ELECTROTYPE  PEOCESS. 

WHEN  Galvani  was  convulsing  frogs  with  his  rude  primitive  battery,  or  when 
Volta  was  presenting  to  the  French  Academy  an  account  of  his  more  ad- 
vanced arrangements  and  results,  there  was  but  slender  promise  of  such  magnificent 
fruits  as  are  now  seen  in  the  electrotype  process,  and  in  the  magnetic  telegraph. 
The  twilight  dawn  of  great  discoveries,  like  the  remote  sources  of  mighty  rivers, 
foreshadows  to  common  perceptions  nothing  of  the  future  greatness  which  their 
full  career  is  to  embody.  That  subtle  agency,  which  Volta  expounded,  in  imper- 
fect phrase,  before  the  French  Academy,  is  now  known  to  be  as  wide  as  creation 
in  its  workings,  and  as  intangible  as  the  spirit  of  man  in  its  substance.  Al- 
ready have  electric  currents,  in  their  widely-varied  functions,  been  found 
to  pervade  nearly  all  of  material  nature,  and  the  history  of  electrical  science  has 
grown  voluminous  and  absorbing  beyond  all  precedent ;  though  we  are  still  con- 
strained to  believe  ourselves  only  on  the  verge  of  this  expanding  realm  of 
fact  Our  present  business  is  with  this  current  as  a  worker,  in  a  particular  limited 
field,  where  it  serves  as  a  delicate  fingered  artist  in  metals,  or  wears  the  guise  of  a 
transcendental  Tubal-Cain :  for  such  is  the  function  of  dynamic  electricity  in  its 
electrotype  uses.  The  discussion  of  electric  metallurgy,  in  its  wide  and  rap- 
idly enlarging  extent,  would  so  much  exceed  our  limits,  that  we  must  rest  content 
with  treating  the  electrotype  proper,  or  the  process  of  reproducing  metal  plates  by 
molecular  deposition,  through  the  regulated  action  of  galvanic  currents. 

The  electrotype  renewal  of  engraved  plates  with  perfect  correctness  of  detail, 
has  now  become  a  process  of  as  entire  certainty  as  any  of  the  coarser  forms  of 
casting,  for  all  sizes  and  descriptions  of  work  engraved  on  copper.  The  finest 
touches  of  the  graver  can  be  indefinitely  multiplied  without  any  loss  of  delicacy, 
and  in  a  very  short  time.  No  mechanical  impediment  now  prevents  the  unlimited 
reproduction  of  copies  from  the  largest  and  finest  copper-plates  ever  engraved,  and 
this  at  a  cost,  which  compared  with  the  usual  prices  of  such  prints,  is  absolutely 
trifling.  One  cannot  but  long  to  see  this  process  applied  to  those  elaborate  plates, 
the  prints  from  which  have  been  sold  for  prices  up  to  fifty  dollars,  or  more,  under 
the  conviction  that  only  a  few  impressions  could  be  obtained  without  re-engf  aving, 
thus  making  the  cost  of  a  single  impression  about  equal  to  the  expense  of  making 
an  electrotype  copy  of  the  original  copper-plate.  The  time  apparently  is  near  at 
hand,  when  fine  engravings  of  this  description  will  receive  so  wide  a  diffusion  as  to 
make  the  original  outlay  for  engraving  a  mere  trifle,  when  distributed  among  the 
great  number  of  copies  which  a  low  price  will  cause  to  be  sold.  Some  publisher 
who  is  an  art  philanthropist,  and  sagacious  withal,  will  ere  long  extend  the  prin- 
ciple of  cheap  publication  into  this  higher  department  of  art;  thus  making  a 
portfolio  of  engravings  by  the  best  masters  a  luxury  within  the  means  of  thousands, 
who  are  now  excluded  from  their  purchase  by  the  alarming  prices  of  good  line 
engravings.  The  finest  works  of  art  can  be  electrotyped  with  the  same  ease  as  the 
coarsest  map  plate ;  nor  is  the  cost  of  printing  and  paper  very  much  increased  by 
the  fine  quality  of  the  subject,  or  by  its  delicacy  of  treatment. 

The  electrotype  process  was  made  a  practical  fact  by  Jacobi  and  Spencer,  in 
1838,  though  an  instance  of  electro-metallic  deposit  is  recorded  so  long  ago  as  1805, 
which  however  lay  quite  fruitless.  Its  rapid  strides  in  improvement  up  to  the 
present  time,  have  been  due  to  the  united  labors  of  many  intelligent  practitioners 
of  its  several  forms  of  application.  Ohm's  law,  and  Smee's  laws  of  current  actions, 
have  given  fundamental  principles  for  reasoning  and  experiment,  which  have  guid- 
ed investigators  in  their  operations,  directly  to  positive  and  excellent  results. 

The  chief  articles  of  interest,  in  connection  with  electro-metallurgy,  now  on 
exhibition  in  the  Crystal  Palace,  are  the  large  map  plates  of  the  United  States 
Coast  Survey,  made  in  the  office  of  the  Survey  at  Washington ;  the  map  plates  of 


the  British  Ordnance  Survey,  made  in  the  Ordnance  Map  Department  at  South- 
ampton ;  and  the  several  articles  in  the  English  Department,  contributed  by  Elking- 
ton,  including  various  castings  of  reliefs,  busts,  ornamental  vases,  &c,  and  specimens 
of  electroplating. 

We  will  now  present  in  brief  the  mode  of  copying  engraved  plates  in  the  Coast 
Survey  Office  by  Mr.  G.  Mathiot,  who  has  there  devised  many  of  the  processes  and 
appliances  so  successfully  employed.  Visitors  will  observe  in  the  Coast  Survey  space, 
under  the  great  North  window,  three  plates,  42  by  38  inches  in  size,  contain- 
ing work  of  the  finest  quality.  These  are  respectively  an  original  plate,  an  alto 
or  relief-lined  plate,  and  a  basso,  or  duplicate,  so  like  the  original  as  not  to  be  easily 
distinguished,  except  by  examining  the  back.  This  original,  on  being  completed 
by  the  engravers,  was  carefully  cleaned,  and  its  surface  silvered.  It  was  then 
washed  with  an  alcoholic  solution  of  iodine,  and  exposed  to  the  action  of  light ; 
this  process,  one  of  Mr.  Mathiot's  invention,  is  beyond  question  far  the  best 
means  in  use  for  preventing  a  final  adhesion  of  the  deposit  to  the  matrix  plate. 
The  plate  thus  prepared,  was  suspended  vertically  in  a  vat,  containing  a  solution 
of  sulphate  of  copper,  and  a  raw  copper-plate,  of  rather  larger  size,  suspended  par- 
allel to  it.  These  plates  were  then  made  to  serve  as  electrodes,  by  being  connected 
with  a  powerful  battery.  The  copper  in  the  solution  of  sulphate,  which  adjoins 
the  engraved  face,  was  thus  deposited  by  decomposition,  being  thrown  down  as  a 
pure  copper  layer  on  the  face,  while  the  free  acid  acted  on  the  raw  copper-plate, 
and  thus  sustained  the  strength  of  the  solution ;  the  whole  action  amounting  to  a 
transfer,  or  carrying  by  water,  of  the  copper  from  the  rough  plate  to  the  engraved 
surface.  When  the  deposition  had  progressed  far  enough  to  form  a  good  surface- 
layer,  the  plate  was  shifted  into  a  horizontal  vat  of  the  same  solution,  and  the  raw 
copper-plate  supported  on  a  frame  just  above  it.  A  specially  contrived  furnace  sus- 
tains in  this  solution  a  heat  of  about  180  degrees,  which  greatly  facilitates  deposition. 
The  current  was  again  brought  to  act,  and  maintained  in  steady  operation  until 
the  deposit  attained  the  thickness  requisite  for  safe  handling.  The  plate  and  de- 
posit were  then  withdrawn  from  the  solution,  filed  around  their  common  edge,  and 
the  two  were  then  separated  or  split  apart  through  the  iodine  layer  which  was 
introduced  on  the  original  face,  forming  probably  an  iodine  atmospheric  film.  The 
deposited  plate  is  the  alto,  which  exhibits,  in  relief  and  direct,  all  the  engraved  re- 
versed lines  of  the  original.  This  alto  was  then  made  to  serve  in  turn  as  a  matrix, 
on  which  a  new  copper-plate,  one-eighth  of  an  inch  thick,  was  deposited  in  pre- 
cisely the  same  manner  as  in  forming  the  alto.  This  plate  is  an  exact  duplicate  ot 
the  original,  and  is  called  a  basso,  or  an  electrotype  copy.  It  requires  only  a  little 
smoothing  on  the  back,  and  a  removal  of  any  accidental  specks  or  imperfections, 
to  be  ready  for  the  printer.  The  time  occupied  in  the  reproduction  of  a  plate, 
containing  ten  square  feet,  can  be  brought  within  a  week  for  forming  both  alto 
and  basso,  though  economy  of  working  usually  makes  it  preferable  to  take  some- 
what more  than  this  minimum  time.  A  careful  regulation  of  the  current  under 
Smee's  laws  is  of  great  importance  as  an  indispensable  means  of  securing  the  re- 
quisite metallic  properties  in  the  deposit.  Planished  copper-plates  are  quite  infe- 
rior to  good  electrotypes  for  printing,  as  the  pure  metallic  copper  resulting  from 
electro-deposition  is  free  from  that  porosity  which  produces  cloudiness  of  impres- 
sion. The  work  of  inking  and  wiping  an  electrotype  is  considerably  less  than  for 
a  planished  plate,  and  the  wear  for  each  impression  is  consequently  less.  The  first 
electrotype  copy  of  the  largest  plate  exhibited,  printed  about  two  thousand  im- 
pressions, without  showing  wear,  though  the  work  is  remarkably  light  and  fine,  so 
that  the  original  would  probably  have  failed  in  less  than  one  thousand  printings. 
The  cost  of  producing  these  large  plates  may  be  judged  from  the  rate  of  deposit,  which 
is  sometimes  as  high  as  3  lbs.  per  square  foot,  in  twenty-four  hours.  The  consumption 
of  materials  admits  of  accurate  estimate,  but  the  cost  of  work,  apparatus,  &c,  varies 

58 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


much  with  the  kind  and  quantity  of  work  to  he  done ;  though  a  dollar  per  pound 
■would  probably  prove  a  remunerating  price  in  regular  work,  free  from  piecing  or 
inserting.  Smeo  estimates  at  a  sovereign  per  pound,  but  this  rate  is  certainly  much 
above  what  the  methods  of  Mr.  Mathiot  would  require.  This  process  of  repro- 
duction is  made  to  serve  as  a  means  of  inserting  views,  uniting  separately  engraved 
plates,  so  as  to  shorten  the  time  of  engraving,  and  also  to  facilitate  erasures,  by 
vcraping  off  from  an  alto  the  relief  lines  to  be  erased,  and  then  obtaining  a  basso, 
blank  in  those  parts.  Thus  the  scarring  and  beating  up  from  the  back,  which 
make  ordinary  copper-plate  erasing  so  troublesome,  arc  quite  avoided. 

A  critical  examination  of  the  Coast  Survey  plates,  will  show  that  they  are  as 
perfect  as  copper-plates  seem  capable  of  being  made.  A  comparison  of  these  with 
the  Southampton  plates,  will  show  a  marked  superiority  in  their  evenness  of  de- 
position, and  in  the  smoothness  of  their  backs.  The  Ordnance  Survey  plates  required 
to  be  laboriously  filed  all  over  their  backs,  while  the  inequalities  filed  from  the  backs 
of  the  Coast  Survey  plates  were  comparatively  insignificant,  though  these  plates 
quite  exceed  the  English  in  size  and  thickness.  Indeed  the  results  indicate  a  decidedly 
better  management  of  the  currents  by  Mr.  Mathiot,  than  is  displayed  in  any  other 
electrotype  work  exhibited.  In  Elkington's  electro-castings  there  is  a  degree  of  inte- 
rior roughness,  which,  making  all  due  allowance  for  the  irregular  forms  of  his  subjects, 
indicates  a  much  less  perfect  control  of  the  deposit  than  is  exhibited  in  the  Coast 
Survey  plates.  So  far  as  we  have  the  means  of  knowing,  these  plates  exhibit  the 
electrotype  art  in  its  highest  attained  perfection.  As  the  French  Government  is  about 
borrowing  the  Southampton  arrangements  for  a  laboratory,  connected  with  their 
Depot  de  la  guerre,  under  the  impression  of  its  superiority  to  all  European  establish- 
ments of  this  nature,  we  may  conclude  that  the  Coast  Survey  Laboratory,  excelling 
that  of  Southampton,  as  it  clearly  does,  both  in  the  facility  and  the  results  of  its  oper- 
ations, stands  absolutely  at  the  head  of  electrotype  practice  in  reproducing  plates. 
The  use  of  iodine  to  prevent  adhesion,  the  heating  of  the  electrolytic  solution  by  a 
constant  furnace,  the  electro-deposited  silver  plates,  used  in  the  batteries,  and  other 
minor  improvements,  wrought  out  by  Mr.  Mathiot,  are  quite  sutficient  reasons  for 
this  superiority.  We  quote  from  his  Report  (Am.  Journal  of  Science,  vol.  xv.,  2d 
6eries,  1853,  and  C.  Survey  Report  for  1851,  Appendix  55),  the  following  description 
of  the  C.  S.  Laboratory,  apparatus  and  manipulations : — 

Fig.  l. 


"  Laboratory  Apparatus. — Figure  1  is  a  plan  of  the  Coast  Survey  Electrotype 
Laboratory.  The  glazed  partition,  J,  6,  J,  5,  with  a  door,  d,  separates  the  battery 
room  from  the  general  laboratory,  and  permits  an  easy  inspection  of  the  batteries, 
without  exposure  to  their  fumes.  The  laboratory  floor  is  about  six  feet  above  the 
ground,  and  slopes  inward  from  the  sides  towards  the  scuttle  holes,  h,  h  h,  h,  ar- 

64 


Fig.  2. 


ranged  for  discharging  the  waste  liquids  spilled  upon  the  floor.  To  obviate  the 
deleterious  effects  of  working  on  a  floor  saturated  with  chemical  agents,  when  any 
solutions  are  spilled,  the  floor  is  well  flooded  and  brushed,  the  water  passing  off 
through  the  scuttle  holes.  There  are  four  battery  cells,  placed  as  indicated,  B,  B, 
B,  B.  A  rectangular  India-rubber  bag,  supported  by  a  deep  wooden  box,  contains 
the  Lattery  solutions.  Each  cell  can  contain  nine  sil- 
ver and  eight  zinc  plates.  A  metallic  connection  unites 
all  the  zinc  plates  of  a  cell,  and  another  one  all  the  silver 
plates.  Each  cell  can  be  used  as  an  independent  bat- 
tery, or  two,  three,  or  four  cells  can  be  connected  in 
consecutive  or  simultaneous  order,  or  all  combined  into 
two  pairs  of  two  in  consecutive  or  simultaneous  or- 
der, or  into  one  group  of  three  and  one  of  one.  The 
position  of  the  vertical  decomposing  vat  is  shown  at  V, 
and  that  of  the  horizontal  vat  at  H.  S  is  a  large  tub 
for  washing  plates.  The  tub  C  contains  the  solution 
of  chlorid  of  iron.  Q  is  the  quicksilver  tub,  and  W,  W, 
are  fresh  water  tubs.  F  is  the  furnace,  and  d,  d,  e,  e, 
are  heating  tubes  connecting  with  the  vat  H.  T  is  a 
flat  iron  table. 

Fig.  2  exhibits  a  cell  and  its  included  plates,  with  their  mode  of  suspension. 

Fig.  3  represents  the  suspend- 
ing frame  of  wood  and  the  attach- 
ed plate,  P,  prepared  for  immer- 
sion in  the  vertical  vat. 

Fig.  4  shows  the  vertical  vat 
and  the  plates  suspended  in  it. 

Fig.  .3. 


F.  5. 


4 ft.  3  inches. 

Fig.  5  represents  the  adjustable  plate-supporting  frame  used  in  the  horizontal  vat. 

Fig.  6  exhibits  the  interior  arrangement 
of  the  horizontal  vat,  a  blank  plate  and 
an  engraved  original  being  in  position; 
also  the  connecting  copper  rods  leading  to 
the  battery. 

Fig.  7  represents  the  heating  furnace. 
The  door  for  admitting  air  is  shown  at 
Fig.  6. 


4  Ft.  8  in. 

a,  and  is  so  connected  with  an  adjusting  compound  bar  of  iron  and  zinc  that  by  an 
adjusting  screw  it  can  be  arranged  to  regulate  the  draught,  opening  or  closing  the 
door,  ^hus  maintaining  a  uniform  heat  in  the  solution. 
After  getting  the  fire  started,  this  door  is  set  so  as  to  close 
when  the  solution  reaches  a  heat  of  180°.  In  principle  this 
furnace  is  similar  to  a  bath-heater.  A  tubular  helix  of  lead 
is  coiled  within  it  like  the  worm  of  a  still,  and  the  terminat- 
ing branches  c  and  d  lead  to  the  horizontal  vat,  the  branch  c 
uniting  the  top  of  the  vat  just  below  the  liquid  surface  with 
the  top  of  the  coil,  and  d  at  the  bottom  of  the  vat  with  the 
bottom  of  the  coil.  Hence  follows  a  circulation  of  the  solu- 
tion from  the  furnace  at  top  and  into  it  at  bottom. 

"  Manipulation. — When  a  plate  is  to  be  electrotyped,  it 
is  placed  on  trestles  above  the  open  scuttle  holes,  h,  h,  h,  h, 
and  thoroughly  cleaned  by  washing  with  alkalies  and  acids. 
It  is  then  silvered,  iodized,  and  placed  before  a  window.  A 
plate  of  rolled  copper  an  inch  larger  than  the  engraved  plate  is 
then  selected,  placed  on  the  flat  iron  table,  and  beaten  with  mallets  until  a  steel 
straight  edge  shows  it  to  be  plane.  It  is  then  weighed  and  fixed  in  the  vertical 
plate  frame  by  two  copper  hooks.  The  engraved  plate  is  then  similarly  fixed 
in  a  similar  frame,  when  both  are  placed  in  a  vertical  vat  and  connected  with  the 
battery. 

"The  process  does  not  go  on  well  when  the  plates  are  vertical,  but  it  is  necessary 
to  start  the  castings  in  this  position  to  prevent  dust,  motes,  or  specks  of  impurities, 
from  settling  on  the  face.    As  the  rolled  plate  dissolves,  its  impurities  rapidly  ren- 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


der  the  solution  muddy,  and  endanger  the  face  of  the  forming  plate.  For  common 
electrotypes  dust  or  mote  specks  are  not  detrimental ;  but  the  Coast  Survey  copper- 
plates being  not  inferior  in  fineness  of  lines  to  fine  steel  plates,  the  effect  of  impu- 
rities settling  on  the  face  of  their  copies  is  to  give  the  impressions  a  clouded  ap- 
pearance. On  first  immersing  the  plate,  the  solution  should,  therefore,  be  perfectly 
clean.  Formerly,  after  each  use  of  the  vertical  vat,  it  was  emptied  and  washed 
out.  When  the  solution  had  deposited  its  sediment  it  was  drawn  off  and  strained 
through  very  fine  cotton.  This  whole  operation  was  extremely  disagreeable,  and 
consumed  a  whole  day  of  one  man. 

"  By  a  simple  expedient  I  have  saved  the  necessity  of  cleaning  the  vat  oftener 
than  once  a  month.  To  guard  the  new  plate  from  specks  and  impurities,  a  bag  of 
fine  cotton  is  drawn  over  a  slight  wooden  frame,  which  keeps  it  distended.  An 
hour  or  more  before  the  solution  is  wanted,  the  bag,  with  its  included  frame,  is 
placed  on  top  of  the  solution  and  loaded  with  the  copper  bars  used  to  support  the 
plate  frames.  The  weight  causes  the  bag  to  sink  gradually,  filtering  the  contained 
solution  as  it  goes  down  ;  the  impurities  cannot  wholly  choke  the  meshes  of  the 
cloth,  as  a  fresh  portion  is  constantly  brought  into  action  during  the  sinking.  I 
thus  filter  the  solution  without  taking  it  from  the  vat  or  disturbing  the  sediment, 
saving  much  labor,  time,  and  annoyance. 

"  The  plate  remains  in  the  vertical  vat  over  night,  and  preparations  are  made 
in  the  morning  to  transfer  it  to  the  horizontal  vat.  The  furnace  is  first  brought 
into  action.  A  new  plate  of  blank  copper,  an  inch  larger  than  the  matrix,  is  flat- 
tened on  the  iron  table,  and  bolted  to  the  edges  of  wooden  bars  by  platinum  bolts, 
for  the  purpose  of  preventing  the  plate  from  sagging  downwards  when  supported 
horizontally.  The  plate  so  arranged  is  called  the  strapped  plate.  The  coated  ma- 
trix is  then  taken  from  the  vertical  vat,  disengaged  from  its  frame,  and  arranged 
in  the  horizontal  frame.  A  wooden  wall,  an  inch  high,  then  surrounds  the  plate^ 
and  on  this  wall  the  strapped  plate  is  laid,  when  the  whole  combination  is  placed 
in  the  horizontal  vat  and  the  connection  with  the  battery  established.  The  posi- 
tiva  plate  is  then  taken  from  the  vertical  vat  and  its  loss  of  weight  noted  and  re- 
corded. From  the  known  superficial  area  of  the  matrix,  the  quantity  of  copper  re- 
quired for  a  casting  one-eighth  of  an  inch  thick  is  computed  and  recorded.  The 
blank  copper  consumed  iu  both  vats  must  equal  this  amount  before  the  required 
thickness  is  reached,  allowance  being  made  for  impurities  of  rolled  copper  and 
roughness  on  the  back  of  the  electrotype.  After  a  few  honrs  of  action  the  strapped 
plate  becomes  so  loaded  with  impurities  that  they  will  begin  to  drop  on  the  elec- 
trotype ;  this  plate  must,  therefore,  be  removed  from  the  vat  and  a  new  one  imme- 
diately supplied.  The  dirty  plate  is  then  washed  in  the  large  water  tub,  and  when 
cleaned  its  loss  of  weight  is  found  and  recorded.  By  the  amount  of  loss  the  action 
of  the  batteries  is  tested,  and  it  is  found,  if  Smee's  laws  are  being  observed.  Vigi- 
lance must  now  be  exercised  in  watching  the  batteries  and  rate  of  work,  and  the 
power  must  be  varied  to  suit  circumstances. 

"  The  entire  working  battery  generally  requires  renewal  once  a  day,  the  process 
being  conducted  as  follows :  One  zinc  and  one  silver  plate  are  taken  from  the  bat- 
tery ;  the  silver  placed  in  the  solution  of  chlorid  of  iron,  and  the  zinc  taken  to  the 
water  tub  outside  the  door  of  the  battery  room,  where  it  is  scrubbed  clean  with  a 
hard  brush.  It  is  then  reamalagated  at  the  quicksilver  tub,  and  taken  back  to  the 
battery.  The  silver  plate  is  transferred  from  the  chlorid  of  iron  solution  to  the 
adjacent  fresh  water  tub.  Another  plate  is  then  transferred  from  the  battery  to 
the  chlorid  solution,  and  another  zinc  cleaned,  washed,  and  put  back  in  the  battery 
with  the  first  silver.  In  this  manner  the  whole  battery  can  be  renewed  without 
sensibly  interrupting  its  action.  v 

•"  When  the  loss  of  weight  from  the  rolled  copper  in  both  vats  indicates  that  the 
required  thickness  of  the  electrotype  is  gained,  the  plate  is  withdrawn  from  the 
battery,  detached  from  its  frame,  its  back  smoothed,  and  its  edges  filed,  until  a 
separation  can  be  made.  By  separation,  the  original  becomes  liberated,  and  the 
alto  or  reversed  relief  is  silvered  and  electrotyped  exactly  as  an  original.  The  copy 
from  it,  or  the  electrotyped  basso,  will,  if  the  process  has  been  properly  conducted, 
be  a  perfect  fac-simile  of  the  original,  and  in  hardness,  ductility,  and  elasticity,  will 
equal  the  best  rolled  and  hammered  or  planished  copper-plate." 

However  gratifying  the  progress  of  electrotype  art  has  already  been,  there  is 
evidently  much  more  to  be  accomplished  by  its  agency  in  copying  all  varieties  of 
designs  in  metals.  Electro-stereotyping  is  already  much  in  use,  and  must  become 
far  more  common  in  this  age  of  large  editions.  The  letter-press  and  wood-cuts  of 
a  popular  magazine  are  now  printed  from  a  thin  electro-deposited  copper  layer, 
backed  with  a  fused  metal  filling.  We  confess  to  a  lack  of  faith  in  the  pretension 
advanced  on  the  cover  to  a  new  electrotype  process,  as  the  generally  known  me- 
thods are  very  easily  capable  of  affording  the  results  reached,  and  the  affectation 
of  secrecy  which  is  maintained,  is  not  the  sign  of  a  real  discovery. 

Our  own  country,  requiring  such  immense  issues  of  popular  works,  both  of  lit- 
erature and  of  art,  would  seem  to  be  the  natural  home  of  the  electrotype,  and  we 
feel  a  well-based  confidence  that  many  perfections  and  amplifications  will  be  given 
to  this  beautiful  process  in  the  country  which  has  most  to  gain  by  its  progress. 
The  field  of  novel  applications  is  by  no  means  yet  exhausted,  but  many  hitherto 
nnimagined  uses  will  doubtless  spring  up,  as  this  art  advances  to  greater  perfection 
and  facility. 


BRIDGES. 

TO  enable  us  to  examine  these  important  structures  understandingly,  it  is  well 
at  first  to  eliminate  a  few  of  the  most  important  general  principles  governing 
their  construction,  and  applying  the  conclusions  to  the  various  models  illustrating 
the  progress  and  condition  of  this  branch  of  engineering  science,  to  decide  upon  the 
merits  of  the  various  plans  exhibited.  And  although  these  leading  principles  may 
be  materially  modified,  and  in  particular  instances  governed  by  purely  practical 
considerations,  yet  the  infractions  induce  defects,  which  should  be  admitted  only 
under  serious  necessity,  and  counteracted  by  an  appropriate  remedy.  An  ex- 
amination of  all  these  influences  cannot  be  properly  made  here ;  and  the 
models  before  us  do  not  enable  us  by  experiment  with  them  to  form  an  opinion 
of  the  structures  represented.  Besides  the  difference  in  workmanship  and  the 
omission  of  joints,  fittings,  and  fastenings  in  the  one,  which  are  matters  of  neces- 
sity in  the  other,  the  model  is  no  direct  index  of  proportional  strength.  The 
strength  of  similar  beams  varies  as  the  breadth  and  square  of  the  depth,  or  as  the 
cubes  of  the  diameters,  if  cylindrical ;  and  inversely  as  the  length.  Of  two  cylinders 
of  similar  material  and  configuration,  differing  only  in  size,  the  strength  of  the 
larger  strained  by  its  own  weight,  will  be  in  the  inverse  proportion  to  its  dimensions. 

d  3 

The  strength  of  the  smaller  cylinder  may  be  represented  by  ~  (w  the  weight  and 
I  the  strength,  and  d  the  diameter),  and  that  of  the  larger,  if  the  dimensions  bo 


doubled,  by  , 


8<Z3 


or 


d  3 


or  one  half  of  that  of  the  first.    To  relieve  it  of  for- 


x  8  w         11  w 

mal  language ;  the  consideration  is,  that  while  the  weight  is  increased  eight  times 
by  doubling  all  the  dimensions,  the  like  proportion  of  strength  gained  by  increasing 
the  breadth  and  depth,  or  diameter,  is  lessened  by  the  greater  distance  between  the 
supports.  If,  then,  the  spans  of  a  bridge  are  doubled  or  trebled,  and  the  dimen- 
sions increased  in  like  proportion,  the  strength  will  be  but  one-half  or  one-third. 
A  model  weighing  but  a  few  pounds  may  sustain  several  tons  without  injury,  but 
when  enlarged  to  the  size  of  a  useful  structure,  the  same  arrangement  of  material 
may  be  incapable  of  sustaining  its  own  weight. 

In  an  ordinary  rectangular  beam  resting  upon  supports  at  the  extremities,  the 
lower  fibres  are  in  a  state  of  tension,  and  the  upper  ones  are  compressed ;  and 
about  the  middle  of  the  depth,  the  fibres  have  little  or  no  strain  either  of  crushing 
or  tensile  effect,  and  contribute  but  slightly  to  the  strength  of  the  beam.  By  re- 
moving this  neutral  part,  and  connecting  the  remaining  upper  and  lower  chords 
by  appropriate  ties  and  braces,  in  such  a  manner  that  the  rigidity  of  the  one  assists 
the  cohesion  of  the  other,  a  straight  bridge  truss  is  formed  of  much  greater  strength 
than  a  solid  beam  of  the  same  weight.  This  combination,  represented-  in  the  an- 
nexed figure,  forms  a  truss  well  adapted  for  an  aqueduct  or  other  uniform  load. 
A  partial  distribution  of  the  load,  however,  involves  an  additional  consideration 
which  has  been  frequently  overlooked.  Let  the  weight  or  load  be  applied  at  A  ; 
it  resolves  itself  upon  B  and  0,  the  e  D  A 

points  of  support,  in  the  directions  A 
B  and  A  0,  and  induces  a  rise  of  the 
points  D  and  E,  similar  to  the  effect 
produced  on  one  side  of  an  arch  by 
overloading  the  other.  Owing  to  the  manner  of  their  connections,  the  braces  are 
not  adapted  to  sustain  the  tensile  force  occasioned  by  this  action,  and  the  neces- 
sity for  introducing  iron  tie-rods,  or  wooden  counterbraces  in  the  other  diagonals 
of  the  panels  is  at  once  illustrated.  Their  absence  induces  a  racking  strain,  which 
destroys  the  integrity  of  the  framing,  and  loosens  the  courses  of  the  piers. 

The  piers  supporting  a  bridge  possess  a  degree  of  stability,  rendered  necessary 
by  obvious  causes,  which  may  be  made  available,  and  to  a  certain  extent  increased, 
in  designing  the  superstructure,  or,  as  we  are  now  considering  the  subject,  the 
bridge  itself.  Suppose  a  beam  resting  upon  supports :  the  lower  fibres  of  the 
beam  resist  a  tensile  force,  and  the  supports  merely  sustain  the  weight  of  the 
beam.  Wedge  the  ends  of  the  beam  firmly  in  the  supports,  and  the  lower  fibres 
are  compressed  and  re- 
lieved of  the  tensile 
strain,  and  may  be  re-  — -»» 
moved  entirely  up  to 
the  dotted  line;  the 
upper  corners  also,  sus- 
taining no  strain,  may 
be  removed.  We  have 
thus  materially  lightened  the  bridge,  and  rendered  it  capable  of  sustaining 
a  greater  load,  by  throwing  an  additional  strain  on  the  piers,  which  is  counter- 
acted by  the  thrust  of  the  adjacent  arches  or  embankments.  The  lower  curve 
of  the  arch  is  termed  the  intrados  or  soffit ;  and  the  upper,  the  extrados. 
The  upper  portion  of  the  curve  is  termed  the  crown,  and  the  lower  parts,  the 
haunches  and  heels.  In  a  uniformly  heavily  loaded  arch  with  the  intrados  of  a 
circular  curve,  the  tendency  at  the  crown  is  to  open  the  joints,  if  of  stone,  at  the 
soffits,  and  at  the  haunches,  the  joints  are  broken  at  the  extrados.  To  obtain  such 
a  curve  for  the  intrados  that  the  tendency  to  fracture  would  be  equal  throughout 
the  arch,  was  formerly  considered  a  prime  object ;  but  the  necessity  for  adapting 

SO 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


tbo  bridge  to  the  lino  of  the  road,  and  the  absence  of  an  equal  diffusion  of  the 
load,  and  consequent  strains,  has  led  the  curve  to  be  disregarded  of  any  purposo 
other  than  determining  the  direction  of  the  courses  of  the  stones,  which  should 
be  at  right  angles  to  the  strain.  The  courses  in  a  vertical  wall,  it  is  obvious,  should 
bo  horizontal. 

In  the  illustration  above,  the  neutral  axis  remains  the  same  after  the  beam  is 
converted  into  the  arch;  and  as  tho  application  of  material  at  the  lower  part 
of  the  arch  would  bo  near  the  neutral  axis,  and  of  no  utility,  it  is  manifest 
that  tho  strength  should  be  increased,  as  in  tho  beam,  by  increasing  its  depth  or 
rise.  In  parallel,  concentric  arches,  the  lower  meets  no  strain  at  the  centre;  and 
the  upper,  none  at  tho  ends.  It  is  necessary,  however,  to  adapt  the  arch  to  a 
horizontal  road-way,  cither  by  direct  suspension,  as  in  the  aqueduct  bridge  over 
the  Calder  in  Scotland,  and  the  Trenton  bridge  in  New  Jersey;  or  by  a  system  of 
ties  and  braces  forming  a  truss,  affording  a  mutual  support  to  the  arch  and  road 
string-pieces,  as  in  the  Upper-Schuylkill  bridge,  which  was  designed  and  built  by 
L.  Worn  way,  and  has  a  single  span  of  340  feet. 


In  the  consideration  of  first  principles  alone,  we  have  found  the  arch  to  be  the 
best  disposition  of  material ;  and  also  that  a  benefit  may  be  derived  from  thu  supports 
of  the  road-way  being  employed  as  braces  to  the  arch.  As  the  strength  of  a  structure 
is  the  strength  of  its  weakest  part,  and  an  excess  of  strength  in  any  other  part  is 
made  worse  than  useless  by  the  injurious  weight  of  the  surplus  material,  it  is  ne- 
cessary to  connect  the  systems  where  a  part  of  one  may  be  useful  to  the  other, 
and  may  be  employed  without  danger  of  infringing  the  independence  of  either. 

If  one  half  of  an  arch  be  removed,  and  replaced  by  a  vertical  wall  of  sufficient 
stability  to  resist  the  thrust  of  the  remaining  half  arch,  there  will  be  no  other 
support  needed,  and  it  will  stand  as  firmly  as  before ;  showing  that  while  the 
piers  sustain  the  whole  weight  of  the  arch 
acting  vertically  in  the  direction  of  gravity, 
there  is  no  direct  vertical  force  acting  at  the 
crown.  This  alteration  in  the  direction  of 
the  strain  from  the  vertical  to  the  horizontal, 
will  obtain  in  any  arrangement  of  parts.  The 
curve  taken  by  a  string,  freely  suspended  at 
its  ends,  shows  the  direction  of  the  forces 
throughout  its  length,  and  the  lowest  point 
in  the  curve  is  obviously  under  the  action  of 
horizontal  forces  alone. 

AVhen  the  arch  rises  above  the  neutral  axis, 
therefore,  there  is  only  a  horizontal  strain 
operating  at  the  crown,  which  can  be  best 
opposed  by  mere  area  of  cross  section ;  and 
the  braces  and  ties  adapted  to  a  vertical  strain  are  there  of  no  use.  The  heels  of 
the  arches  support  the  weight,  acting  more  or  less  angularly  as  the  centre  of 
gravity  is  distant.  If  the  heels  of  the  adjacent  arches  butted,  or  were  worked  toge- 
ther, there  would  be  no  necessity  for  arguing  the  advantage  to  be  gained  by  tying  tho 
crowns  together.    Notwithstanding  the  action  is  precisely  similar  to  that  of  a  tie 


compression,  relieved  at  the  heels  in  tho  arch  truss,  by  the  bracing  which  transfers 
a  portion  of  the  strain,  and  converts  it  into  a  tensile  force  operating  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  chords,  and  in  some  cases  almost  entirely  relieving  the  abutment  of 
the  thrust. 

Mr.  Uaupt,  an  eminent  engineer  in  extensive  practice,  states,  in  a  valuable 
work  recently  published  by  tbo  Appletons  on  this  subject,  that  when  a  straight 
bridge  settles,  tho  quickest  curvature  is  nearest  the  abutment ;  and  that  he  has 
found,  in  examining  a  large  number  of  bridges,  the  joints  of  the  braces  near  the 
abutments  were  invariably  compressed  and  tight,  whilst  near  the  centres  there 
were  no  symptoms  of  crushing,  and  an  occasional  imperfection  in  fitting  would 
allow  the  admission  of  a  knife-blade. 

The  trussing  also  permits  the  application  of  tho  important  principle  of  counter- 
bracing  which  we  have  before  adverted  to ;  and  which,  by  a  system  of  keying  to 
the  braces,  or  screwing  to  the  iron  ties,  may  compress  the  arch,  and  indeed  the 
whole  structure,  as  if  by  the  application  of  a  load ;  so  that  the  load  itself  on  its 
passage  relieves  the  counterbracing  to  the  extent  of  the  artificial  load,  and  is  pre- 
vented from  exercising  any  lifting  motion  upon  the  opposite  part  of  the  arch  or 
truss. 

The  conclusions  to  which  we  are  led  by  these  considerations,  which  apply  moro 
particularly  to  wooden  bridges,  are: — 1,  the  arch,  assisted  by  trussing  at  the 
haunches,  is  the  strongest  method  of  disposing  of  the  material ;  2,  the  strain  at 
the  crown  is  horizontal,  and  best  met  by  direct  section ;  3,  the  strain  at  the  piere 
is  vertical,  and  renders  the  use  of  ties  and  braces,  as  in  a  truss,  most  advantageous. 


/K  /Atv  //K//Km7KM 


Allen's  self-supporting,  arch  truss  bridge.  The  model  is  said  to  be  a  correct 
representation  on  a  scale  of  half  an  inch  to  the  foot,  of  a  bridge  of  190  feet  span. 
It  is  a  light,  slender  affair,  weighing,  probably,  about  30  pounds,  yet  it  is  said  to 
be  able  to  sustain  three  tons.  Experiments  of  this  kind,  as  has  already  been 
shown,  are  of  but  little  worth ;  and  the  value  of  this  model  for  experimental  pur- 
poses is  not  increased  by  making  up  the  body  of  the  chords  in  pieces — the  results 
would  have  been  materially  modified,  however,  had  the  butting  joints  been  intro- 
duced by  dividing  the  pieces  longitudinally  in  the  chords  taking  a  tensile  strain. 
The  entire  thrust  of  the  arch  is  transferred  by  the  braces  to  the  upper  chord  which 
operates  as  a  tie-rod.  The  reduction  of  the  section  of  the  arch  and  increase  of 
vertical  timber,  by  lessening  the  length  of  the  panels  towards  the  centre  of  the 
span,  is  in  opposition  to  leading  principles. 

James  Scott,  of  New  Lisbon,  Conn.,  exhibits  a  model  of  a  combined  truss  and 
arch  bridge,  of  which  he  is  the  inventor  and  patentee.  The  braces  and  counterbraces 
are  similar,  and  starting  in  the  same  plane,  spring  over  one  another  in  crossing. 
The  adjoining  sets  meet  in  mortices  in  the  vertical  posts  or  ties,  which  are  half 
sundered  to  admit  them,  and  are  wedged  up  by  keys. 

Boll/nan's  Bridge. — It  is  a  suspension  bridge,  in  which  tho  return  chains  or 
stays,  and  the  anchors  are  replaced  by  a  hollow  cast-iron  stretcher  extending 
from  pier  to  pier.  The  vertical  posts  are  also  of  cast-iron,  and,  by  the  bot- 
tom of  each  being  suspended  from  both  pier-heads,  the  sections  are  supported 
independently  of  each  other.  If  a  weight  be  placed  anywhere  but  at  the  centre 
of  a  beam  supported  at  both  ends,  it  is  unequally  distributed  ;  yet  in  this  bridge, 


rod  of  a  roof,  and  the  fact  apparent  to  one  least  in  the  habit 
of  considering  such  matters,  that  tho  strain  is  met  in  a  direct 
line,  and  the  whole  construction  much  relieved  by  such  an 
arrangement,  we  frequently  find  the  arches  of  a  bridge  made 
each  complete  in  itself,  and  neither  assisting  nor  benefit- 
ing by  its  neighbor.  Wo  have  seen  that  where  there  is  a 
tortional  or  revolving  strain  about  a  neutral  axis,  as  in  an  ordinary  beam  or  straight 
truss,  the  depth  is  the  most  important  element,  as  the  strength  increases  in  propor- 
tion to  its  square.    In  the  equilibriated  arch  every  particle  of  matter  is  in  a  state  of 

56 


the  ties  from  a  post  next  one  of  tho  piers  have  the  same  sectional  area,  although 
tho  one  to  tho  adjoining  pier-head  carries  nearly  the  whole  weight,  and  the  other 
extends  at  a  very  acuto  and  inefficient  angle  over  the  remaining  portion  of  the 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


span  to  the  opposite  pier-head.  The  floor  beams  are  merely  for  the  purpose  of 
carrying  the  rail,  and,  it  is  stated  by  the  inventor,  are  not  adapted  to  performing 
any  function  of  support  to  the  bridge. 

Fink's  Bridge. — The  model  of  an  iron  brM%o  by  Albert  Fink,  of  Baltimore, 
is  also  a  cast-iron  trussed  girder,  similar  in  principle,  but  in  some  respects  superior 
to  that  at  Harper's  Ferry.    Its  construction  is  shown  in  the  preceding  drawing. 


Long's  Bridge. — The  model  of  an  iron  bridge  invented  and  patented  by  Colonel 
S.  H.  Long,  of  the  U.  S  Top.  Engs.,  is  exhibited  by  M.  M.  White,  agent,  New- 
York.  It  is  a  variety  of  the  ordinary  Lattice  bridge,  which  has  been  a  number  of 
years  before  the  public  under  the  name  of  Rider's  Bridge.  It  is  a  straight  truss 
with  cast-iron  upper  chords,  and  vertical  ties,  and  wrought-iron  diagonals,  and 
lower  chords,  counterbraced  by  keys  or  wedges  at  the  upper  ends  of  the  ties. 
Owing  to  the  simplicity  and  similarity  of  the  parts,  it  is  cheaply  and  readily 
framed,  and  for  small  spans  is  an  economical  bridge.  But  in  cases  where  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  undertaking  requires  the  rejection  of  every  pound  of  useless  mate- 
rial, and  the  employment  of  the  remainder  to  its  fullest  extent,  an  examination  of 
the  governing  principles  of  the  arch  will  soon  lead  to  a  consideration  of  the  differ- 
ence of  the  strains  at  the  crown  and  the  heels,  and  a  disposition  of  the  material 
to  meet  them,  unlike  the  uniformity  which  prevails  in  this  plan. 

"  Uncle  Sam  Bridge,"  invented  by  Hammond  Howe,  of  Cincinnati.  It  is  stated 
by  the  inventor,  that  this  model  of  a  horizontal  truss  bridge  which  may  be  constructed 
of  wood  or  iron,  is  16  feet  long,  weighs  63  pounds,  and  can  carry  3448  pounds ;  it  re- 
presents a  bridge  480  feet  long,  containing  135,000  feet,  board  measure,  of  timber 
averaging  six  inches  square,  and  47  tons  of  iron,  and  which  will  be  capable  of  carry- 
ing 10,800  tons.  Its  distinguishing  characteristics  are  straight  lower  chords,  and 
arched  upper  ones,  springing  from  points  sufficiently  high  to  clear  the  roadway, 
and  with  a  rise  nearly  sufficient  to  double  the  depth  of  the  truss  at  the  centre. 
The  immense  span  represented  by  the  model,  and  the  employment  of  small 
timber,  produces  an  effect  of  complexity  of  parts  which  the  structure  would  not 
possess.  The  ties,  braces,  and  counterbraces,  are  well  arranged  in  sets  gradually 
lessening  in  lengths  towards  the  abutments,  and  properly  disposing  the  timbers 
vertically  at  the  piers,  and  at  their  most  acute  angles  near  the  centre.  It  is  prob- 
ably overloaded  in  the  middle,  and  the  secondary  chord  to  the  upper  arch,  if  the 
braces  are  well  bolted,  is  of  no  utility.  The  butting  blocks  at  the  heels  of  the 
braces  are  superior  to  the  ordinary  joints. 


PENNSYLVANIA  MINERALS. 

Mining  is  a  most  fascinating  pursuit,  involving  the  pleasure  of  a  hazardous  ad- 
venture and  the  excitement  of  successful  play.  Its  profits  are  sometimes  so 
ftbulous,  that  its  losses  are  overlooked,  and  men  are  always  ready  to  venture  even 
with  the  smallest  evidence  upon  its  large  and  certain  expenses.  Although  Amer- 
ica, from  its  discovery  until  this  day,  has  furnished  the  great  bulk  of  the  precious 
metals,  mining,  as  an  art,  or  as  a  science,  has  never  been  well  understood  here, 
nor  systematically  followed — and  especially  in  the  United  States.  Gold  being 
found  for  the  most  part  on  the  surface,  in  the  alluvial  sands,  is  extracted  by  the 
rudest  means  and  the  most  unskilful  operators — the  process  being  unworthy  of  tho 
name  of  mining.  The  few  deep  mines  in  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas,  where  the 
gold-bearing  rocks  are  wrought,  scarcely  form  an  exception  to  this  remark.  The 
ores  of  silver,  and  those  of  the  less  valuable  metals,  are,  however,  to  be  procured 
only  by  deep  mining,  and  the  resources  of  the  United  States  in  this  direction  have 
yet  to  be  developed.  The  galena  (ore  of  lead)  of  Missouri  and  the  adjacent 
regions,  has  been  hitherto  dug  from  beds  of  clay  at  an  inconsiderable  depth.  There 
is  no  regular  lode  or  vein,  and  the  process  of  procuring  it  is  even  less  like  mining, 
than  the  washing  of  auriferous  sands.  The  native  copper  of  Lake  Superior,  has  no 
analogy  in  the  previous  history  of  mineral  explorations ;  and  while  its  returns 
have  been  in  several  cases  most  encouraging,  and  remunerative  to  the  share- 
holders we  are  still  too  inexperienced  in  this  new  mode  of  copper-mining  to  enable 
U3  to  speak  with  certainty  of  its  future  success. 


We  are  load  to  speak  of  this  subject  by  the  exhibition  of  the  ores  of  lead 
from  the  Wheatley.  Mines  in  Pennsylvania,  accompanied  by  diagrams  of  the  mines, 
of  the  machinery  used  in  working  them,  and  specimens  of  the  several  products. 
Pennsylvania  has  immense  wealth  in  coal  and  iron,  as  all  the  world  knows ;  but 
her  resources  in  copper,  lead,  and  zinc,  are  now  only  beginning  to  be  developed. 
The  collection  of  Pennsylvania  coals  and  irons,  made  under  the  supervision  of  Dr. 
O.  M.  Wetherell,  will  be  the  subject  of  a  future  notice. 

The  mineral  region  where  the  Wheatley  Mines  are  situated,  is  in  Montgomery 
and  Chester  Counties,  and  occupies  a  belt  of  country  from  six  to  seven  miles  long, 
ranging  across  the  Schuylkill  River,  near  the  Perkiomen  and  Pickering  Creeks,  in 
a  general  east  and  west  direction,  and  along  the  boundary  of  the  so-called  primary 
and  secondary  rocks.  The  existence  of  6ome  of  the  metallic  veins  of  this  region 
has  been  long  known,  but  it  is  only  lately  that  a  systematic  exploration  of  their 
contents  has  been  undertaken  by  Mr.  Charles  M.  Wheatley.  Under]  his  judicious 
management,  the  chief  lode  of  argentiferous  galena  has  been  proved  to  a  depth  of 
over  two  hundred  feet,  and  a  monthly  return  of  about  one  hundred  tons  of 
silver-lead-ore  obtained.  The  mineralogist,  and  the  lover  of  beautiful  nat- 
ural objects,  will  see  with  equal  pleasure  and  surprise  the  superb  crystallisation  of 
metallic  salts  from  these  mines,  now  exhibited  in  the  Mineralogical  Department. 
They  embrace  the  carbonate  of  lead,  sulphate  of  lead,  (anglesite  of  the  mineral- 
ogists), phosphates  of  lead,  green,  brown,  and  yellow ;  molybdate  and  molybdo- 
chromate  of  lead,  splendid  red  crystals ;  arseniate  of  lead,  chromate  of  lead,  galena, 
bars  of  silver  obtained  from  the  galena,  and  various  other  products  less  attractive  to 
the  uninstructed  eye.  We  speak  understandingly  and  without  exaggeration,  when 
we  say  that  the  sulphates  and  molybdo-chromates  of  lead  in  Mr.  Wheatley's  col- 
lection, are  the  most  magnificent  metallic  salts  ever  obtained  in  lead  mining,  and 
unequalled  by  any  thing  we  have  seen  in  the  cabinets  of  Europe.*  These  attractive 


HIGH-PBE8SUBB  24-INCH  TUMPING  ENGINE  IN  USE  AT  THE  WHEATLET  MINIS. 


*  [  Selecting  the  Wheatley  Lode  as  presenting  perhaps  the  greatesyliversity  of 
species,  and  as  that  which  has  received  the  closest  study,  we  find  t^mineralogy 
of  these  veins  represented  by  the  following  large  and  interesting  catalogue  of 
species : — 


Sulphate  of  Lead  Crystallised, 
Carbonate  of  Lead  " 
Phosphate  of  Lead  " 
Arseniate  of  Lead  " 
Molybdate  of  Lead  K 
Chromomolybdate  of  Lead, 
Arseniophosphate  of  Lead, 
Sulphuret  of  Lead, 

Antimonial  Sulphuret  of  Lead  and 

Silver, 
Sulphuret  of  Zinc, 
Carbonate  of  Zinc, 
Silicate  of  Zinc, 
Sulphuret  of  Copper, 


Green  Malachite, 
Blue  Malachite, 
Black  Oxyd  of  Copper, 
Native  Copper, 
Oxyd  of  Manganese, 
Native  Sulphur, 
Native  Silver, 
Quartz  crystallised, 
Cellular  Quartz, 
Oxyd  of  Iron  with  Silver, 
Brown  Hematite, 
Brown  Spar, 
Sulphate  Barytes, 
Iron  Pyrites.] 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


crystallisations  possess,  however,  far  more  interest  for  the  chemist  an  mineralogist 
than  for  tho  economist,  who  will  see  more  hope  of  future  returns  to  shareholders 
in  the  lumps  of  solid  galena,  and  the  bars  of 
white  silver,  than  in  the  brilliant  facets  of  the 
gems  before  named. 

The  inexperienced  in  such  matters  will  learn 
with  interest,  however,  that  these  flowers  of 
the  earth's  dark  recesses  have  a  high  economi- 
cal valuo  as  indicating  the  existence  of  solid 
and  enduring  mineral  wealth  below.  In  the 
chemical  and  geological  antagonism,  whose 
energies  sent  up  to  the  surface  the  mineral 
veins  from  the  deep  interior,  the  more  volatile 
and  easily  exhaled  compounds  have  sought  the 
upper  surface.  The  air  and  the  atmospheric 
waters  also  have  penetrated  to  a  certain  depth, 
in  the  course  of  the  veins,  producing  changes 
in  their  contents,  the  most  remarkable  of  which 
is  the  washing  out  and  removal  for  the  most 
part  of  the  metallic  substances.  These  veins, 
therefore,  near  the  upper  surface,  present  only  a 
dull  mass  of  cellular  quartz,  whose  cavities  are 
filled  with  yellow  ochre,  or  dull  black  powders 
of  the  oxyds  of  iron  and  manganese,  with  here 
and  there,  perhaps,  a  metallic  spangle,  or  stain. 
The  eye  of  the  experienced  miner  rests  with 
delight  on  these  ugly  gozzam,  as  he  calls  them, 
in  the  provincial  dialect  of  Cornwall — for  he 
is  sure  of  success  in  depth  where  the  surface 
offers  such  promise.  Succeeding  these  dull 
and  unattractive  signs,  of  which  Mr.  Wheatley's 
collection  presents  specimens,  are  found  the 
elegant  salts  before  mentioned,  but  lower  down 
at  the  depth  of  some  hundreds  of  feet,  heavy 
masses  of  galena  and  of  other  sulphur  com- 
pounds of  the  metals,  fill  the  rich  portions  of 
the  vein,  and  offer  the  safest  assurance  of  continued  wealth. 

The  geology  of  this  metalliferous  district  of  Pennsylvania,  has  been  studied 
lately  by  Prof.  II.  D.  Rogers,  who  has  made  a  special  report  to  the  proprietors  upon 


have  it  in  our  power  to  call  public  attention  to  this  subject  by  so  good  an  example 
of  patient  and  skilful  development  at  our  own  door.    To  give  more  distinctness  to 


IIIfill-rRESSlRE  rUMI'ING  LNOINE,  24-INCI1  CYLINDER,  IN   USE  AT  HKUOKUAI.E  MINE. 

it.  From  this  report,  and  our  personal  knowledge  of  tho  district,  wo  have  drawn 
what  has  been  said.  The  elaborate  maps  of  the  region,  constructed  upon  the  plan 
of  the  ordnance  s'-.vey  maps  of  Great  Britain,  will  bo  observed,  suspended  in  the 
Exhibition,  and  upon  them  the  metallic  veins  are  traced  in  gold.    Wo  are  happy  to 

68 


CONDEXSINO  BE  VM  ENGINE,  24-INCII  CYLINDER,  IN  USE  AT  CHARLESTON  MINE. 

the  matter,  we  have  caused  some  of  the  diagrams  of  the  mining  machinery, 
used  at  the  Wheatley  Mines,  to  be  engraved  for  this  article.  Although  such 
drawings  may  be  of  no  special  service  to  the  experienced  miner,  they  cannot 
fail  to  impress  those  who  have  had  no  previous  knowledge  of  the  subject  with 
the  absurdity  (not  to  say  the  criminal  disregard  of  others'  interests),  of  those  who 
rush  ignorantly  into  the  business  of  mining  explorations,  with  no  other  idea  than 
the  creation  of  some  temporary  excitement,  during  which  innocent  persons  are  in- 
duced to  subscribe  shares,  with  the  certainty  of  failure  before  them.  In  view  of 
the  unfortunate  frequency  of  such  examples,  we  hail  with  pleasure  the  exposi- 
tion of  Mr.  "Wheatley  as  a  tokens  of  some  sure  progress  made  in  one  of  the 
great  industrial  and  productive  arts  of  this  country. 

The  steam  engines  employed  hitherto  in  this  region  are  high-pressure  en- 
gines, and  they  have  been  used  alike  for  pumping  and  for  raising  the  mining 
products  to  the  surface.  Hereafter  as  the  resources  of  the  region  are  more  fully 
developed,  the  much  more  economical  Cornish  engine  will  be  employed.  One 
such  machine  is  indeed  already  in  motion  at  the  Perkiomen  Copper  Mine  with 
the  most  satisfactory  results.  Below  are  given  figures  showing  the  construction, 
and  position  of  the  steam  engines  in  use  at  the  Wheatley,  Brookdale  and 
Charleston  Mines.    Also  a  tabular  statement  of  the  duty  performed  by  each. 

It  will  be  observed  that  all  these  engines  are  automatic  or  intermittent  in 
their  action,  remaining  inactive  until  a  certain  load  of  water  has  accumulated 
on  the  pumps,  when  "  a  float "  releases  a  lever  communicating  with  the  steam 
"cut-off,"  and  a  motion  of  the  piston  relieves  the  pumps  of  their 
burden,  and  the  machinery  is  again  quiet  until  a  fresh  accumulation. 
The  great  economy  of  fuel,  and  of  wear  and  tear  in  such  an  ar- 
rangement must  be  obvious,  as  compared  with  a  regular  continu- 
ous motion,  having  no  regard  to  the  work  to  be  done. 

This  engine  is  situated  on  the  same  vein  or  lode  as  the  "  Wheat- 
ley,"  and  is  distant  from  it  2,076  feet  in  a  southwesterly  direction. 
It  will  bo  observed  that  this  engine  works  upon  the  dip  or  "  under- 
lie "  of  the  vein,  which  is  here  about  eighteen  inches  in  a  fathom. 
Between  those  two  engines,  at  a  point  nearly  midway,  and  on  the 
same  vein,  a  very  large  shaft  is  now  in  process  of  being  sunk,  over 
which  is  to  be  placed  a  first-class  Cornish  engine,  with  the  design  of 
draining  the  entire  lode.  When  this  is  accomplished,  the  engines 
before  described  will  bo  used  only  to  raise  the  products  of  the  mine 
to  the  surface.  The  proposed  Cornish  pumping  engine  is  to  have  a 
diameter  of  cylinder  of  80  inches,  and  a  stroke  of  12  feet. 

About  half  a  mile  westward  of  tho  Wheatley  and  Brookdale  Mines,  whose  engines 
have  just  been  described,  exists  another  powerful  silver-lead  lode  strictly  parallel 
to  tho  first  named.    This  is  called  the  Charleston  vein.    It  has  as  yet  been  ex- 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


plored  to  a  less  extent  than  the  "  Wheatley,"  both  in  depth  and  horizontal  reach, 
but  the  results  are  every  way  encouraging.  The  mineral  contents  of  the  vein,  its 
gozzans,  and  its  bounding  walls,  make  it  a  counterpart  of  its  more  eastern  neighbor. 
About  1700  feet  of  its  horizontal  range,  and  180  feet  in  depth  have  been  explored, 
and  the  main  shaft  is  being  sunk  with  activity. 

The  accompanying  figure  is  a  proportional  sketch  of  a  condensing  engine  of  24- 
inch  cylinder  which  has  been  erected  over  the  Charleston  Mine.  This  is  what  in 
Cornwall  is  called  a  "  Whim  Engine  "  (i.  e.  an  engine  for  moving  the  "  whim," 
or  apparatus  by  which  ore  and  rubbish  is  raised  from  a  mine).  In  a  more  ad- 
vanced stage  of  explorations,  a  pumping  engine  will  be  added,  and  then  the  pre- 
sent machine,  which  now  does  all  the  work,  will  be  restricted  to  its  appropriate 
function. 


the  agriculturist  ?  "  The  whole  world  has  been  searched  during  the  past  ten  years  for 
new  sources  of  supply  for  this  indispensable  ingredient  of  all  fertile  soils.  Is  it 
not  possible  that  this  maybe  a  new  source,  or  one  hitherto  overlooked? 

It  is  proper  to  advert  before  closing  this  article,  to  a  few  facts  upon  the  gen- 
eral geology  of  this  district,  and  of  its  metallic  deposits  which  are  of  equal  practice] 
and  scientific  interest.  We  will  endeavor  to  make  these  statements  as  simple  and 
untechnical  as  possible.  In  the  previous  part  of  this  article,  it  was  stated  that  the 
mineral  veins  of  this  district  passed  uninterruptedly  out  of  the  gneissic  strata 
(rocks  belonging  to  the  granitic  family)  into  the  red  sandstone,  adjacent.  Now  it 
is  a  curious  fact,  worthy  of  much  attention,  that  the  metalliferous  veins,  so  long 
as  they  remain  in  the  gniessic  rocks  are  lead-bearing  veins  ;  that  as  soon  as  these 
same  veins  pass  the  boundary  of  the  primary  and  enter  the  red  shales,  the  char- 


EXPLOEING   mQH-PBESStTBE  ENGINE    AND   BOILER,   CAPABLE   OF  LOCOMOTION. 


The  above  figure  represents  a  very  convenient  and  economical  form  of  "  Ex- 
ploring Engine"  which  has  proved  of  great  service  where  explorations  were  to  be 
made  prior  to  the  erection  of  more  expensive  and  permanent  machinery.  It  is 
easily  transported  from  plate  to  place  by  horse  power,  and  will  serve  to  drain  and 
sink  a  shaft  from  70  to  100  feet  in  depth. 

The  following  tabular  statement  will  show  the  duty  of  the  several  engines  just 
mentioned — working  under  one-third  "  cut  off." 


Names 
of  Mines. 

Diameter 
of  Cylinder. 

Length 
of  Stroke. 

Load  in  lbs. 

Gallons  of 
water  lifted 
per  min. 

Cwt.  of  Coal 

consumed 
per  24  hours. 

Millions 
lbs.  lifted  one 

foot  high 
per  cwt.  coals. 

Inch. 

Strokes 
per.  min. 

Feet. 

Wheatley 
Mine. 

24 

10 

6 

8360 

360 

2300 

31.4 

Brookdale 
Mine. 

24 

6 

8 

4410 

216 

1500 

15.2 

Charleston 
Mine. 

24 

6 

5 

6490 

216 

1200 

28. 

This  duty  is  very  much  below  that  of  the  Cornish  pumping  engines,  the  best 
of  which  raise  for  every  bushel  of  coal  consumed,  one  million  of  pounds  one  foot 
high  in  a  minute. 

The  depth  of  the  several  shafts,  at  these  mines,  on  the  first  of  July,  was  as  follows : 

The  Wheatley,   240  feet. 

"   Brookdale,      -      -      -      -  -      -    120  " 

"   Charleston,        -  120  " 

3      do.         do.     each,  -      -      -      -     50  " 

Besides  1  of  60,  1  of  90,  and  1  of  100  each. 

The  total  length  of  adit  levels  driven  in  these  mines,  up  to  the  same  date,  was 
3519  feet.  About  1000  tons  of  lead  have  been  raised  and  sent  to  market  during 
the  explorations,  which  the  owners  regard  as  only  preliminary  to  the  more  vig- 
orous and  productive  workings  of  the  mines. 

As  already  remarked,  the  more  easily  volatilized  of  the  lead  ores,  and  those 
resulting  as  secondary  products  from  the  decomposition  of  galena  by  atmospheric 
causes,  occupy  the  upper  and  less  productive  portions  of  the  veins.  It  is  remarkable 
that  among  these  the  phosphate  of  lead  should  occupy  so  prominent  a  place — form- 
ing not  less  than  three-fourths  of  the  whole  metallic  product  of  the  upper  levels. 
It  is  a  curious  subject  of  scientific  inquiry,  from  whence  came  such  enormous  quan- 
tities of  phosphoric  acid  ?  But  a  question  of  much  more  practical  and  economical 
interest  is — "  Cannot  the  process  of  smelting  these  ores  be  so  modified,  that  the 
phosphoric  acid  may  be  secured  in  a  form  of  combination  fit  for  the  purposes  of 


acter  of  their  metallic  contents  is  changed,  and  they  become  copper-learing  lodes. 
This  general  statement  is  subject  to  some  exceptions,  but  it  is,  at  the  same  time 
supported  by  so  many  remarkable  confirmatory  instances,  that  there  can  be  little 
hesitation  in  accepting  it  as  the  law  of  the  district.' 

The  question  of  the  geological  age  of  metallic  deposits  has  always  been  con- 
sidered one  of  the  greatest  practical  and  scientific  importance.  The  Perkiomen 
district  furnishes  us  some  facts  of  singular  interest  bearing  upon  this  question. 
The  red  sandstone  deposits,  into  ahich  the  metallic  veins  have  been  intruded 
from  the  underlying  primary  rocl^  belong  to  the  period  known  to  European 
geologists  as  the  triassic,  but  more  familiar  as  the  new  red  sandstone,  a  deposit 
more  recent  than  the  coal  measures.  Now  it  happens  that  this  quarter  of  Penn- 
sylvania is  intersected  by  numerous  veins  of  igneous  origin,  familiarly  known  by 
the  name  of  trap  dykes : — it  is  obvious,  on  reflection,  that  inasmuch  as  these  trap 
dykes  intersect  alike  the  primary  and  secondary  rocks,  that  the  fissures  which  they 
fill  must  have  been  formed  subsequent  to  the  laying  down  of  the  sedimentary 
strata,  in  other  words,  the  instrusive  rocks  are  more  recent  in  their  geological  age 
than  the  new  red  sandstone.  The  bearing  of  these  facts  upon  the  subject  under 
consideration  will  be  understood,  when  it  is  known  that  in  the  exploration  of  the 
Wheatley  lode,  three  of  these  trap  dykes  have  been  discovered,  intersected  and 
displaced  by  the  metallic  vein.  Moreover,  such  was  the  force  producing  the  fissures 
now  filled  by  the  metallic  lode,  that  the  corresponding  or  opposite  parts  of  the  two 
walls,  have  been  heaved  or  displaced  horizontally,  in  one  instance  more  than  fifty -six 
feet  out  of  their  original  position. 

These  facts  show  not  only  that  these  metallic  veins  are  more  recent  in  their 
origin  than  the  sedimentary  deposits  through  which  they  are  injected,  but  also 
more  recent  than  the  system  of  intrusive  rocks.  The  same  system  of  new  red 
sandstone  rocks  accompanied  by  the  intrusive  trap  dykes,  is  common  also  in  the 
valley  of  the  Connecticut,  and  in  the  State  of  New  Jersey.  In  both  of  these 
places,  indications  of  copper  exist  along  the  lines  of  junction  of  the  several 
members  of  the  system,  but  they  nowhere  show  a  disposition  to  form  well-de- 
fined courses  of  a  metallic  character. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  Prof.  Rogers,  that  the  metallic  vein-fissures  of  this  region 
were  formed  and  filled  during  the  long  period  when  the  eastern  slope  of  the 
Alleghanies  was  still  beneath  the  ocean,  from  whose  waters  were  deposited  the 
extensive  belt  of  tertiary  and  cretaceous  strata  bordering  the  Atlantic  border  of 
North  America.  The  effect  of  the  oceanic  overflow  appears  in  the  very  extensive 
and  deeply  penetrating  decomposition  which  the  gneissic  strata  of  this  region  have 
suffered,  yielding  to  the  landscape  those  soft  and  beautiful  swells  and  outlines  for 
which  this  fine  agricultural  district  is  remarkable. 

We  would  refer  those  who  desire  more  particular  information  on  this  subject, 
to  the  reports  of  Prof.  Rogers  already  so  often  alluded  to. 


THE    I  ND  USTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


PRINTING. 

TIIE  Art  of  Typography  is  illustrated  in  tho  present  exhibition  by  the  type- 
founding  apparatus  of  tho  Messrs.  Johnston,  of  Philadelphia,  and  by  the  printing 
presses  of  I.  &  S.  Adams  &  Co.,  of  Boston,  and  A.  B.  Taylor  &  Co.,  New- York. 
The  presses  arc  driven  by  steam,  and  are  in  constant  operation  at  tho  Crystal 
Palace,  in  the  East  Nave.   The  Hand  Catalogue  and  the  Illustrated  Record, 
are   printed  upon 
them  under  the  su- 
perintendence of  J. 
F.  Trow,  of  New- 
York.    A  brief  de- 
scription of  the  pe- 
culiarities of  these 
machines  is  all  that 
we  propose  to  at- 
tempt;   tho  gene- 
ral   principles  of 
printing  presses 
are  so  universally 
known  that  they 
need  no  detailed  ac- 
count or  illustra- 
tion at  our  hands. 

Adams'  Press. — 
This  machine,  of 
which  we  annex 
an  engraving,  was 
invented  and  manu- 
factured by  Mr. 
Isaac  Adams,  of 
Boston,  and  is 
known  more  espe- 
cially as  "  Adama' 
new  Patent  Power 
Printing  Press." — 

Some  of  its  peculiarities  were  introduced  to  the  public  in  1830,  and  were  then 
patented,  but  most  of  them  were  brought  out  in  1836,  when  another  patent  was 
granted  to  Mr.  Adams,  which  in  1850,  was  renewed  for  the  term  of  seven  years. 

The  press  requires  the  attendance  of  only  one  person,  usually  a  girl,  whose  duty 
it  is  to  supply  the 
sheets    of  paper, 
one  by  one,  to  the 

"pointing  board,"  0 
from  which  they 
are  taken  by  little 
iron  fingers  or  nip- 
pers, and  carried 
beneath  tho  platen. 
As  each  sheet  reach- 
es this  place,  the  bed 
of  typo  is  elevated 
to  meet  the  paper 
and  impress  it. 
After  impression, 
the  sheet  is  borne  on 
for  some  distance 
by  a  "  frisket," 
which  moves  in  a 
horizontal  direc- 
tion ;  by  a  blast  of 
air  received  from  a 
bellows,  it  is  raised 
from  the  frisket  on 
to  rollers,  which 
carry  it  to  a  "  fly," 
and  this  last  con- 
trivance throws  all 
the  sheets  upon  a 
table,  and  piles 
them  there  com- 
pactly. 

Meanwhile  tho 

bed  of  typo  has  been  inked  by  the  rollers,  and  by  the  time  a  second  sheet  has 
reached  tho  platen  the  bed  has  returned  to  its  place,  and  is  ready  to  make  a  new 
impression.    The  ink  is  very  carefully  distributed  over  the  faco  of  the  type  by  a 

60 


well-adjusted  system  of  rollers,  from  two  to  six  of  which,  in  the  various 
machines  of  this  patent,  are  made  to  pass  over  the  form.  By  this  means  the 
complete  and  even  distribution  of  ink,  so  essential  to  printing  fine  engravings, 
is  readily  produced.  The  illustrated  pages  of  the  Record  are  printed  upon  this 
press. 

Taylor's  Press  was  manufactured  and  invented  by  A.  B.  Taylor,  of  No.  5  Hague- 
street,  New-York,  and  is  definitely  known  as  a  "large single-cylinder  printing  ma- 
chine." The  engra- 
ving at  the  foot  of 
the  page  illustrates 
its  general  appear- 
ance. The  sheets 
to  be  printed  are 
placed  one  by  one 
on  the  table  at  the 
top*  of  the  ma- 
chine, from  which 
they  are  taken  by 
tho  five  clasps  or 
fingers,  which  are 
seen  in  the  cut, 
and  brought  upon 
the  cylinder.  As 
the  cylinder  re- 
volves, the  bed  of 
type  which  is 
seen  at  tho  left  in 
the  engraving,  is 
brought  beneath  it, 
and  conveys  its  im- 
pression to  the  re- 
volving paper.  Only 
one  revolution  of 
the  cylinder  is  re- 
quired for  a  single 
impression.  The 

sheets  thus  printed  are  carried  forward  by  the  "  fly "  to  the  table  at  the 
right,  while  the  bed  of  type  returns  to  the  left  to  receive  the  ink  for  the  new 
sheet  of  paper  already  prepared  for  it.  The  machine  is  provided  with  two 
large  and  two  small  vibrating  ink-distributors,  and  four  composition  rollers  for 

inking  the  form. 

One  peculiarity 
of  this  machine  is 
in  the  air  springs, 
attached  to  it  for 
resisting  the  great 
momentum  which 
the  bed  of  type  ac- 
quires in  passing 
to  and  fro  beneath 
the  cylinder.  They 
consist  of  hori- 
zontal hollow  cy- 
linders, which  are 
attached  to  each 
end  of  the  bed  of 
type,  and  have  pis- 
ton rods  or  plung- 
ers, fitted  accu- 
rately to  them. 
These  plungers  are 
fixed  in  the  frame- 
work of  the  ma- 
chine, and  as  the 
bed  of  typo  ap- 
proaches either  end, 
the  piston  there 
placed  compresses 
the  air  within  the 
cylinder,  so  as  to 
resist  the  momen- 
tum of  the  bed  of 
type  as  effectually 

as  a  spring,  but  without  its  liability  to  disarrangement.  Ihe  amount  of  pres- 
sure may  be  very  readily  adjusted  to  any  extent  which  is  required  by  means 
of  screws. 


THE    NEW -  YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


Of  the  beaut  iful  articles  made  of  papier  maehe  we 
have  selected  for  this  page  five  objects  from  the  contri- 
butions of  Messrs.  Jennens  &  Bettridge,  of  Birmingham 
and  London.  These  gentlemen  are  the  largest  manu- 
facturers of  papier  maehe  in  England,  and  during 
the  fifty  years  of  their  establishment,  their  enterprise 
and  taste  have  introduced  many  improvements,  and 
greatly  extended  the  trade,  by  adapting  this  material 
to  an  endless  variety  of  useful  and  ornamental  objects. 


An  Ink  Stand,  a  Tea  Caddy,  a  highly  ornamented  Screen, 
and  parlor  Cuair  and  Table,  which  we  engruve,  will 


illustrate  the  variety  of  the  works  which  they  produce 
They  were  awarded  a  prize  medal  at  t  lie  Exhibition  of  1851. 


The  process  of  inlaying  papier  maehe  with  pearl  was 
invented  by  Messrs.  Jennens  &  Bettridge,  and  patented 
by  them  about  twenty  years  since.    It  is  quite  a  simple 


and  easy  process,  and  does  not  consist  in  cutting  out  the 
material  for  the  insertion  of  the  inlaid  substance,  as  the 
name  indicates,  but  the  pearl  is  held  by  adhesion  only. 


It  is  done  in  the  following  manner :— the  article  to  be  orna- 
mented is  covered  with  a  thin  coat  of  copal  or  other 
varnish,  which  serves  to  retain  in  place  the  pieces  of 


pearl,  previously  cut  into  the  required  size 
and  shape  from  the  nacre  of  shells.  When 
all  the  pieces  of  the  design  have  been  laid 


on,  repeated  coats  of  tar  varnisli  are  ap- 
plied until  the  interstices  are  completely 
filled,  and  the  pearl  covered.    The  article 


is  next  ground  with  a  pumice  stone  until  the  extra 
varnish  is  removed,  and  a  uniform  surface  produced,  with 
the  exposure  of  the  design.  The  surface  is  then  polish- 
ed with  a  rotten-stone,  and  finally  finished  by  "handing," 
or  polishing  by  the  hand.  The  process  of  gem  inlaying 
is  another  invention  by  the  same  firm,  which  they  have 
recently  patented. 

The  Pistols  which  commence  and 
end  this  page,  present  another  variety 
of  the  repeating  arms,  for  which  Amer- 
ica has  become  famous.  They  are  manu- 
factured by  the  Massachusetts  Arms 
Company,  at  Chicopee  Falls.  The  up- 
per one  particularly  is  very  beautifully 
finished.  The  chief  peculiarity  of  these 
pistols  consists  in  the  Maynard  Primer, 
whose  arrangement  will  be  seen  in  the 
engraving. 

One  of  these  strips,  containing  fifty 
charges,  is  coiled  up  and  placed  in  a  ma- 
gazine in  the  lock,  and  is  fed  out,  by  the 
action  of  the  lock,  one  charge  at  each 


time  the  hammer  is  raised.  When  the  hammer 
descend  s  it  cuts  off  and  fires  the  charge  fed  out 
upon  the  vent  or  cone,  thus  igniting  the  cartridge 
within  the  barrel. 

The  detonating  material  of  the  "Maynard 
Primer  "  is  in  the  form  of  little  lozenges,  each  about 

61 


one-sixth  of  an  inch  wide,  and  one-thirtieth  of  an 
inch  thick.  These  lozenges  are  inclosed  between 
two  narrow  strips  of  strong  paper  cemented  toge- 
ther, and  rendered  water-proof  and  incombustible. 
The  single  strip  thus  formed  is  a  little  less  than  one- 
fourth  of  an  inch  wide,  is  very  stiff  and  firm,  and 
contains  four  of  these  lozenges  (each  of  which  is  a 
charge)  in  every  inch  of  its  length  ;  the  charges 
forming  projections,  of  their  own  shape,  on  one 
side,  having  considerable  and  equal  spaces  bet  ween 
them ;  the  other  side  of  the  strip  being  one  flat 
and  even  surface. 


THi:     INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


On  this  and  the  opposite  pase  we  engrave  two  stn-  and  hickory,  and  the  running  gear  of  white  hickory, 

tues  which  adorn  the  Austrian  department  of  the  Exhibi-  Both  are  highly  polished,  and  ornamented  with  carving 

lion,  although  they  are  the  work  of  an  Italian,  Giiiseitk  and  solid  silver  mountings;  but  no  paint  or  varnish  de- 

Croff,  of  Milan.  The  one  represents  a  boy  seated  upon  forms  the  native  beauty  of  the  wood.  The  patent  leather 
a  tortoise,  with  one  hand  guiding  his  slow-paced  steed  ; 


top,  and  the  linings,  are  tastefully  stitched  and  embroid- 
ered with  national  emblems. 

On  comparing  the  art  of  carriage-building  of  no  very 
distant  times  with  the  present,  it  will  be  seen  that  it  has 


been  greatly  improved,  especially  in  combining  lightness 
and  strength.  This  is  more  apparent  in  carriages  made 
in  the  United  States  than  any  where  else,  and  our 


builders  have  been  greatly  aided  in  attaining  this  supe- 
riority by  the  unrivalled  excellence  of  the  wood  (hickory) 
furnished  by  our  forests. 


and  the  other,  a  boy  upon  a  huge  craw-fish  or  lobster, 
and  apparently  amusing  himself  with  the  struggles  of 
his  captive. 

The  Gazelle  Waggon,  made  and  exhibited  by  G.  W. 
Watson,  of  Philadelphia,  is  a  meritorious  specimen  both 


m 


of  the  excellence  of  our  native  material?,  of  which  il  is 
entirely  composed,  and  of  the  beauty  which  they  may 
receive  from  the  skill  of  our  mechanics.  It  was  also  ex- 
hibited at  the  World's  Fair,  of  1851,  and  there  received 
a  prize  medal.    The  body  is  made  of  American  walnut 


The  Antique  Clock,  made  in  1509,  is  exhibited  by 
.Ikkomk,  the  well  known  manufacturer  of  clocks  in  New 
Haven.  The  case  is  oak,  and  its  rude,  quaint  carvings 
are  in  striking  contrast  with  the  smartness  of  its  modern 
companions. 


The  Ebony  Cabinet,  also  an  antique,  if  we  may  judge 
from  its  appearance,  is  exhibited  by  K.  J.  Gamelkoorn, 
of  Arnheim,  Holland.  It  is  elaborately  and  grotesquely 
carved  in  fanciful  scrolls  and  figures,  among  which  we 
distinguish  huntsmen,  and  a  stag  and  wild  boar  at  bay. 


THE    NEW-YOllK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


From  the  first  introduction  of  portable  fire-arms  num- 
berless attempts  have  been  made  to  increase  their  de- 
structiveness  by  giving  to  one  instrument  the  power  of 
many ;  but  it  was  left  to  American  ingenuity  to  carry  out 
the  idea  with  practical  success.    The  latest  of  these 


novelties  is  exhibited  by  the  inventor,  Mr.  E.  Whitney, 
of  New  Haven.  The  chambered  cylinder  is  detached 
for  loading  by  removing  the  centre-pin  on  which  it  re- 
volves ;  when  in  place  it  is  turned  by  the  thumb  or  finger 
to  the  right  or  left,  as  may  be  desired.    This  repeater  is 


discharged  less  rapidly  than  Colt's,  but  it  is  also  much 
stronger  and  simpler  in  its  construction,  and  therefore  less 
liable  to  be  injured  by  use,  or  if  so,  it  may  be  easily  repaired. 

The  Caster,  engraved  on  this  page,  was  made  by  the 
Ames  Manufacturing  Company,  Chicopee,  Mass.    It  is 


wrought  in  solid  silver,  and 
we  are  assured  that  it  exhi- 
bits good  workmanship.  We 
cannot  help  expressing  our  re- 


gret that  skill  and  labor  of  any 
kind  should  have  been  wasted 
on  a  design  of  such  unequi- 
vocal   and    unmitigated  ab 


purdity.  It  has  neither  beauty  nor  I  has  been  sacrificed  to  carry  out  a 
fitness,  but  every  artistic  propriety  |  paltry  and  puerile  conceit.  In  works 


in  the  precious  metals,  we  are  entitled  to  expect  a  grade  of 
art  corresponding  to  the  rich  and  costly  nature  of  the  ma- 
terials, and  in  articles  of  table  furniture,  we  also  require 
a  design  in  harmony  with  their  obvious  uses.  Three 
wild  cats,  turned  tail  foremost  towards  the  trunk  of  a 
tree,  and  snarling  at  two  others  in  its  branches,  form  a 
group  which  would  be  ridiculous  wherever  perpetrated, 


but  when  they  are  stuck  upon  the  foot  of  a  caster,  and 
made  to  decorate  (?)  a  dinner-table,  the  conceit  becomes 
offensive  as  well  as  absurd.  What  possible  connection 
is  there  between  a  group  of  cats  and  a  vinegar  cruet  or 
pepper  box  ?  A  caster  requires  to  be  lifted,  and  needs 
a  handle  smooth  and  convenient  to  the  hand ;  but  here 
wo  are  treated  instead  to  a  twist  of  two  branches  with 


rough  and  sharp  projections,  impossible  to  grasp  with 
comfort,  and,  as  though  this  were  not  enough,  two  cats 
are  added,  struggling  over  some  nondescript  animal 
which  they  have  caught. 

The  statue  on  the  right  of  the  page  is  the  work  of  Signoi 
Piatti,  the  superintendent  of  sculpture.  It  represents  the 
son  of  an  Irish  farmer,  during  the  late  years  of  famine. 


63 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


Works  in  the  precious  metals  occupy  no  inconsider- 
able space  in  the  exhibition,  and  attract  attention  by 


their  beauty  and  the  great  intrinsic  value  which  they 
represent.    In  the  American  department,  and  to  some 


extent  in  the  English,  they  are  more  remarkable  for  their 
value  as  bullion  than  as  works  of  art.    In  works  of  this 


kind,  as  we  have  before  remarked,  we  are  not  satisfied 
with  ordinary  artistic  merit.    The  ornament  must  be  so 


rare  and  rich  in  design  and  execution  as  to  give  additional 


We  introduce  upon  this  page  favorable  examples 
from  the  American  department.  The  silver  Breakfast 
and  Tea  Services,  and  the  Coffee  Urn,  are  contri- 
buted by  Messrs.  Bailey  <St  Co.,  of  Philadelphia,  who 


value  to  materials  already  rich.  The  workmanship 
should  bemore  precious  than  the  metal  which  receives  it 


are,  we  understand,  extensive  manufacturers  in  that  city. 


The  large  and  massive  silver  Salver,  occupying  the 
centre  of  the  page  is  selected  from  the  case  of  the  Messrs. 
Garrard,  of  London. 


THE    NEW -YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


The  large  Silver  Dish  which  commences  this  page 
is  also  from  the  manufactory  of  Messrs.  Bailey.  It  ap- 
pears soliiL  massy,  and  well  wrought  in  a  mechanical 
point  of  view,  bnt  we  cannot  call  it  beautiful  in  all  re- 


spects.   The  figure  of  an  elephant  which  surmounts  it, 


is  clumsy,  awkward,  and  absurd,  and  fills  ill,  or  not  at  all, 
the  place  of  a  handle  to  the  cover,  for  which  it  was  designed. 

The  succeeding  engraving  represents  a  composition 
o'  .oses  carved  in  relief  upon  a  slab  of  Carrara  marble. 


It  is  the  work  of  Signor  Zaccagxa,  of  Carrara. 


A  piece  of  elaborately  carved  furniture— a  Table—  |  is  contributed  byJonv  A.  Clark,  a  designer  of  ornamental 


furniture  in  Dublin.    We  do  not  care  to  see  little  images  |  or  tall  and  slender  floral  ornaments,  however  delicately  |  carved,  perched  upon  the  legs  of  a  table  or  elsewhere  at- 


tached when  they  have  no  constructive 


•a-  |  tionsof  this  description  are  certainly  not  useful,  and  as  |  certainly  they  are  not  in  good  taste. 

65 


THK    INDUSTRY    OF    AT,  J,  NATIONS. 


England  has  long  been  famous  for  the  beauty  and 
perfection  of  the  wood-carvings  executed  by  her  artists. 
The  productions  of  Grinling  Gibbons,   who  has  been 


justly  called  the  English  Cellini,  still  adorn  the  halls  of 
Chatsworth,  and  receive  the  admiration  of  every  visitor 
at  that  princely  seat.    In  our  own  times  the  carvings  of 


Gibbons  have  been 


reproduced  in  all  their  luxuriant 
and  graceful  beauty  by  W.  G.  Rogers,  of  London.  Who 


ever  examines  the  contributions  of  Mr.  Rogers  at  the 
New-York  Exhibition,  will  feel  to  be  true  what  Horace 
Walpole  long  ago  said  of  Gibbons,  that  he  "gave 
to  wood  the  loose  and  airy  lightness  of  flowers, 
and  chained  together  the  various  productions  of  the 
elements  with  a  free  disorder,  natural  to  each  species." 
We  have  engraved  upon  this  page  four  examples ;  Two 
Panels  upon  which  bunches  of  flowers  are  carved,  and 
another  Panel,  bearing  the  instruments  and  trophies  of 
the  chase.  The  fourth  is  a  grotesque  Mask,  about  which 
three  youthful  fauns  are  wreathing  garlands  of  fruits  and 
flowers.  It  is  intended,  we  presume,  as  an  architectural 
decoration  for  a  theatre. 


The  engraving  which  fills  the  remainder  of  this  page 
represents  a  corner  of  an  embroidered  Handkerchief 
manufactured  for  Mrs.  Pierce,  the  wife  of  the  President 


of  the  United  States.  This,  and  the  Collar  figured  upon 
the  adjoining  page,  are  exhibited  by  the  manufacturers, 
Messrs.  John  Higgins  &  Co.,  of  New-York  and  Dublin. 

The  sewed  muslin  trade  of  Ireland  has  already  be- 
come one  of  very  great  importance  both  in  a  commercial 


and  philanthropic  point  of  view.  It  was  introduced 
into  Ireland  during  the  years  of  famine  in  1846-7,  as  a 
means  of  giving  employment  and  food  to  the  helpless 


peasantry.  In  this  generous  undertaking  the  late  Lady 
Deanc,  and  the  wife  of  Sir  Lucius  O'Brien,  were  nobly 
conspicuous.    The  former  organized  a  parish  school  of 


embroidery,  and  taught  and 
Lady  O'Brien  sent  an  agent 
educated  superintendents,  und 


superintended  it 
to  France  and  p 
er  whose  care  the 


herself, 
locured 
peasant 


66 


THE    N  E  W  •  Y  O  R  K    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


women  and  children  of  counties  Clare  and  Kerry  were 
transformed  into  artistic  laborers.  The  value  of  these 
embroideries  is  very  great.  The  London  Timet  estimates 
the  amount  paid  for  labor  of  this  kind,  in  1851,  in  the 
province  of  Ulster,  at  3,000,000  of  dollars.  Messrs. 


Iliggins,  who  began  this  trade  in  1847  with  a  weekly 
outlay  of  £10,  now  employ  45  convent  and  17  parish 


schools,  each  averging  150  scholars,  with  a  total  yearly 
outlay  for  wages  of  £40,000. 

The  design  of  the  artist  is  drawn  on  stone,  and 
then  printed  upon  the  unbleached  muslin.  The  agent 
distributes  the  work  to  the  schools,  or  to  the  cabins  of 


the  work  people,  and  through  the  same  channel  it  is  re- 
turned to  the  manufacturer.     After  bleaching,  the  em- 


broideries are  sent  to  the  millinery  department,  where 
they  are  carefully  selected  and  made  up 


The  stately  and  imposing  Book-case  engraved  here,  I  York.  Its  construction  and  its  carved  ornaments  are  of  I  tains  its  native  color.  It  contains  a  series  of  splendid 
was  manufactured  by  Messrs.  Bulkley  &  Herter,  of  New-  |  unexceptionable  excellence.    The  material  is  oak,  and  re-  |  books  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Putnam  <£  Co. 

6T 


We  engrave  two  of  the  Compline  Paalms,  beautifully  illuminated  by  a  lady  of  this  city,  and  exhibited  by  G.  P.  Putnam  &  Co. 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


RICE  AND  ITS  CULTURE  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

GIVE  the  name  of  Iread  plants  to  those  which  con- 
tain starch  in  sufficient  abundance  to  constitute 
the  food  of  man.  It  is  the  starch  or  fecula 
that  forms  the  principal  mass  of  bread,  and  the 
essential  part  of  it,  although  the  gluten  and 
albumen  usually  found  with  it,  have  an  impor- 
tant part  in  the  function  of  nutrition,  especially 
in  the  formation  of  muscle. 

The  particular  part  of  the  structure  of  bread- 
plants  which  produces"  starch,  is  widely  differ- 
ent in  their  different  tribes.    Beans,  peas,  chest- 
nuts, and  their  allies  contain  it  in  the  cotyledons, 
the  leaf-like  organs  which  inclose  the  undeveloped  germ.  The 
(  ureal  grains  and  buckwheat  yield  starch  in  the  albuminous 
mass  around  the  germ ;  some  of  the  palms  and  cycads,  in  the 
interior  of  their  steins;  the  potato,  with  the  tropical  yam  and 
cassava,  in  subterranean  stems  and  roots. 

The  bread-plants  are  not  universally  and  uniformly  dis- 
tributed the  whole  world  over.  Some  are  almost  local  in  their  habitat,  but  the 
most  important,  those  which  are  hardiest  and  most  prolific,  have  been  carried 
from  country  to  country,  and  are  the  common  property  of  all  civilised  nations. 
There  are  regions  of  the  globe  of  continental  extent,  in  which  the  sterile  soil  and 
rigorous  climate  forbid  the  cultivation  of  any  bread-plant.  Such  is  the  character 
of  Iceland  and  Greenland,  and  of  the  northern  part  of  America,  extending  on  the 
eastern  side  down  to  the  parallel  of  50*  N.  L.,  and  including  also  Newfoundland, 
which  lies  much  further  south  than  the  fruitful  plains  of  Denmark.  In  Scandinavia, 
barley  and  potatoes  are  sparingly  produced  within  the  sheltered  fiords  as  high  as 
tl.e  70°  N.  L. ;  but  on  each  side  of  this  extreme  and  exceptional  point,  the  line,  north 
of  which  no  bread-plant  can  be  cultivated,  sinks  rapidly  southward,  and  on  the  east 
excludes  the  greater  part  of  Siberia,  and  almost  the  whole  of  Kamtschatka.  That 
portion  of  the  globe  lying  south  of  this  imaginary  line,  may  be  divided  into  seve- 
ral zones  and  regions,  each  of  which  is  characterized  by  one  or  more  bread-plants 
of  cultivated  or  spontaneous  growth.  In  the  present  paper  we  can  speak  of  only 
one  of  the  bread-plants,  and  of  its  culture  as  conducted  in  the  United  States. 

Rice,  in  one  or  another  of  its  very  numerous  varieties,  is,  or  is  expected  to  be, 
contributed  to  the  Exhibition  from  India,  Egypt,  Sardinia,  Guiana,  and  Caro- 
lina, testifying  to  the  value  in  which  it  is  held  by  some  portion  of  the  family  of 
man  in  each  of  the  great  continental  divisions  of  the  globe.  In  India,  the  East- 
ern Archipelago,  and  the  maritime  districts  of  China,  rice  affords  to  the  dense 
population  often  almost  the  sole  support  of  life.  A  total  failure  of  the  crop  would 
be  a  thousand  fold  greater  calamity  than  was  the  potato  famine  of  Ireland ;  a 
bountiful  harvest  is  the  greatest  of  material  blessings  to  these  nations.  From  the 
scalding  jungles  of  Ceylon,  almost  to  the  edge  of  the  glaciers  of  the  Himmalaya, 
where,  in  terraces  on  the  mountain  side,  a  variety  of  peculiar  hardihood  is  culti- 
vated, rice  is  the  main  object  of  agriculture,  and  from  seed  time,  when,  by  a 
prescriptive  right  established  by  the  practice  of  thousands  of  years,  the  farmer 
claims  the  assistance,  not  only  of  the  artisans  of  the  villages,  but  of  their  wives  and 
children,  until  the  ripe  seed  is  beaten  from  its  husk,  it  is  watched  over  by  the 
people  of  every  rank,  caste  and  profession,  with  a  hopeful  anxiety  such  as  honors 
no  other  grain.  It  is  hardly  less  important  as  a  source  of  nourishment  to  thou- 
sands of  our  race  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile  and  in  large  districts  of  Central  and 
Western  Africa;  the  French  are  commencing  its  culture  in  Algeria,  while  on  the 
opposite  shore  of  the  Mediterranean,  it  is  found  heavily  productive  upon  the  well- 
watered  slopes  of  Sardinia,  and  in  the  southern  marshes  of  unfortunate  Hungary.  It 
holds  its  place  with  less  importance  among  the  luxuriant  productions  of  South 
America,  Mexico  and  the  West  Indies,  but  the  beautiful  samples  sent  to  us  from 
Demarara,  indicate  that  it  does  not  fail  in  excellence  and  productiveness  when 
attention  is  there  given  to  its  culture. 

In  the  United  States,  although  the  cultivation  of  rice  as  a  staple,  is  confined 
to  the  banks  of  the  estuaries  of  a  few  small  rivers  in  the  States  of  North  and  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia,  it  is  a  crop  of  no  insignificant  national  importance.  In  the 
year  1850,  the  value  of  rice  exported  amounted  to  $2,600,000,  being  more  than 
one-third  the  value  of  all  the  wheat  and  flour,  more  than  five-ninths  the  value  of 
Indian  corn  and  meal,  and  nearly  one-sixth  of  the  value  of  all  the  vegetable  food 
exported. 

Carolina  rice  is  probably  the  best  in  the  world,  and  is  worth  in  London  18 
shillings  a  cwt.  where  India  rice  is  worth  but  10  shillings.  There  is  no  point  to 
which  our  planters  pay  more  attention  than  to  the  choice  of  varieties,  and  the 
selection  of  seed,  and  to  this  is  to  be  mainly  attributed  the  gradnal  improvement 
which  the  grain  has  acquired  in  their  hands.  No  doubt,  also,  something  is  due 
to  a  happy  adaptation  of  soil  and  climate  to  its  wants.  It  is  a  circumstance  worthy 
of  note,  that  both  cotton  and  rice,  each  originating  in  India,  and  naturalized  in 
our  country,  have  here  acquired  an  excellence  of  quality  unequalled  any  where  else 
in  the  world.    We  hail  the  omen !    The  culture  of  rice  in  the  United  State3  com- 


menced almost  by  accident,  a  French  ship  from  Madagascar,  driven  by  stress  of 
weather  into  the  harbor  of  Charleston,  having  brought  thither  some  rice  "  in  the 
cook's  bag,"  which  was  the  first  seed  sowed.  This  was  in  1694 — and  in  1707 
(only  thirteen  years  later)  rice  is  mentioned  in  a  pamphlet,  published  in  London, 
first,  in  a  list  of  the  more  important  importations  from  the  Colony  of- Carolina. 
In  thirty  years  from  its  introduction,  the  annual  export  from  the  port  of  Charleston 
was  nearly  20,000  casks.  The  expense  of  raising  rice  is  mainly  proportionate  to 
the  cost  of  the  labor  directly  or  indirectly  expended  upon  it,  and  the  value  of 
labor  in  our  Southern  States  is  regulated  by  the  demand  for  it  in  the  production 
of  cotton :  as  in  supplying  this  most  valuable  material  to  the  manufacturers  of 
Europe  and  our  own  country,  we  come  much  less  in  competition  with  other  pro- 
ducers than  in  supplying  articles  of  food,  rice  can  only  be  profitably  cultivated  for 
market  under  circumstances  of  extreme  favor.  But  although  thus  restricted,  the 
amount  grown  and  exported  has  continued  to  increase,  and  the  area  of  land 
devoted  to  the  crop  is  being  every  year  enlarged.  We  shall  presently  explain 
the  peculiar  natural  advantages  of  the  coast  of  Carolina,  which  enable 
labor  to  be  there  profitably  applied  to  rice  culture,  notwithstanding  the  cotton 
monopoly. 

The  rice  plant,  Oryza  sativa,  is  a  panicled  grass,  having  some  resemblance  to 
barley ;  it  will  grow  in  widely  different  soils  and  climates,  rapidly  changing  its 
character,  and  reproducing  itself  in  varieties  adapted  to  the  new  conditions  in 
which  it  may  be  placed.  But  it  is  naturally  an  aquatic  plant,  and  such  varieties 
as  are  yet  known  to  agriculture,  are  natives  of  the  tropical  regions,  and  to  be  very 
productive,  require  to  be  cultivated  under  great  heat,  and  very  abundantly 
supplied  with  moisture.  In  a  temperate  climate,  therefore,  and  in  ordinarily  dry 
soils,  although  (up  to  a  certain  point)  the  grain  improves  in  quality,  its  produc- 
tion is  so  small  that  its  cultivation  is  less  profitable  than  that  of  the  cereals. 
The  Exhibition  contains  samples  of  the  "wild  rice  of  Minnesota,"  a  native  variety 
evidently  of  considerable  productiveness  as  well  as  hardihood,  which  will  form 
the  subject  of  a  separate  article  in  the  Record.  It  is  extremely  probable  that  this 
might  be  so  improved  by  cultivation  that  it  could  be  profitably  produced  in  onr 
Northern  States.  It  would,  without  doubt,  however,  require  to  be  freely  irrigated 
to  produce  at  all  abundantly.  There  is  said  to  be  a  variety  of  rice  in  Java  and 
Sumatra,  which  yields  a  fair  crop  far  up  on  the  mountains,  without  a  greater 
degree  of  moisture  than  is  required  for  oats  or  other  grains.  Naturalists  and 
travellers  have  expressed  the  opinion  that  this  might  be  made  a  profitable  subject 
of  field  culture  in  the  ordinary  agriculture  of  Europe ;  but  we  are  aware  of  no 
trial  having  been  made  of  it.  Nor  can  the  culture  of  any  variety  of  rice  known 
to  the  civilised  world,  be  profitably  undertaken,  except  in  regions  of  almost  tropi- 
cal heat,  and  with  the  advantage  of  ready  and  most  abundant  means  of  irrigation 
with  fresh  water.  Salt  or  brackish  water  is  even  more  poisonous  to  the  Rice  plant 
than  to  most  others.  Let  us  now  take  a  birdseye  glance  at  the  natural  features 
of  the  coast  of  our  Southern  Atlantic  States,  and  we  shall  see  why  rice  culture  i-; 
there  made  profitable,  while  it  is  not,  extensively,  any  where  else  in  North 
America. 

Along  the  coast  there  extends  a  series  of  narrow  sand-bars  and  islands,  low 
and  sterile ;  seldom  inhabited,  and  when  so,  only  by  a  few  lazy,  sottish  Indians, 
half-breeds,  negroes,  and  whites,  who  dwell  in  miserable  shanties,  supporting  Iifo 
by  fishing,  shooting  and  trapping.  At  a  few  prominent  points,  there  are  light- 
houses and  life-boats,  with  other  means  provided  by  Government  for  relieving 
ships  that  may  be  driven  near  them  in  distress.  Scattered  far  more  frequently 
we  may  see  the  skeletons  of  many  gallant  barques,  which,  lifted  high  and  thrown 
far  up  by  great  storm-tides,  have  been  barred  in  and  half  covered  with  sand,  as  the 
victims  of  war  are  buried.  Even  now,  when  ships  in  the  offing  swing  listless  on 
the  glassy  sea,  and  drooping  sails  flap  idly  in  the  calm  hush  of  a  summer's  twilight, 
the  seaward  shore  is  trembling  under  the  heavy  charge  and  repulse  of  surge  and 
sand ;  black,  cavernous  walls  of  breakers  sweep  toward  the  beach,  and  with  a 
low,  sullen,  unwavering,  never-ending  cadence  burst  upon  it  in  broad,  rushing 
belts  of  foam.  There  are  shallow  openings  through  which  the  waters  ebb  and 
flow;  but  the  billows  lose  themselves,  and  the  tidal  currents  steal  along  the  inner 
shore  with  smooth  and  silent  motion. 

Crossing  this  sheltered  lagoon  we  find  sedge-banks  and  salt-grass  meadows, 
with  many  creeks  and  brackish  pools,  and  much  debatable  ground,  miry  and 
rush  bearing.  On  the  higher  parts  there  are  dense  thickets  of  cane,  palmetto,  and 
other  low  trees  and  shrubs,  and  multitudes  of  birds  and  animals  here  make  their 
nests  and  lairs.  Farther  from  the  sea,  and  as  the  water  becomes  less  salt  from  the 
flow  of  streams  from  the  upland,  the  low  grounds  also,  though  submerged  by  every 
rising  tide,  send  up  strong  shafted  cypress  trees,  and  are  shaded  under  their 
dense,  though  light  and  feathery  foliage.  Frequent  sluggish  creeks  meander 
through  this  shoreland  region,  and  many  rivers  that  rise  far  away  in  the  moun- 
tains, here  lose  themselves,  becoming  dead  and  currentless,  as  the  lagoon  water 
rises  under  the  silent,  but  resistless  influence  of  the  semidiurnal  throb  of  the  ocean. 
Their  broad,  low  borders  are  thus  twice  each  day  flowed  over,  and  the  soil  kept 
wet  and  spongy. 

Elevated  ridges  of  sandy  land,  bearing  forests  of  glistening  pine  and  glossy 
magnolia,  sometimes  add  diversity  to  these  swamps.     Heavy  rains  frequently 

69 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL.  NATIONS. 


these  leaves  are  distinguished  by  having  their  veins  in  all  cases  parallel  to  one 
another,  and  also  longitudinal. 

All  flowering  plants  are  divided  into  two  great  classes,  called  by  botanists 
Exogcns  and  Endogens,  which  are  distinguished  from  each  other  by  their  struc- 
ture, appearance,  and  to  some  extent,  by  their  geographical  distribution.  The  for- 
mer, constituting  by  far  the  largest  part  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  present  the 
aspect  and  structure,  which  are  familiar  in  all  the  trees  and  shrubs  of  temperate 
regions.  The  stems  of  Exogeus  are  made  up  of  a  central  pith,  surrounded  by 
concentric  zones  of  wood,  one  of  which  is  added  on  the  exterior  each  year,  and 
an  external  bark  which  covers  and  protects  the  whole.  The  veins  of  their  leaves 
form  a  net-work,  and  are  articulated  to  the  stem  ;  and  their  floral  organs  are  nor- 
mally arranged  in  fives.  Endogenous  plants  attain  noble  arborescent  forms  only 
in  tropical  climates.  The  tulips  of  our  gardens,  the  cereal  grasses,  the  maize  and 
the  sugar  cane  belong  to  this  class.  Their  steins  present  no  distinction  of  central 
pith,  or  woody  circles,  or  separable  bark;  but  the  woody  fibres  produced  in  the 
leaves  run  towards  the  centre  of  the  stem,  and  finally  curve  outward  to  terminate 
in  the  exterior  rind.  The  wood  is  hardest  and  most  compact  at  the  circumference. 
Their  leaves  always  have  straight  and  parallel  veins,  and  are  adherent  to  the  stalk; 
and  the  parts  of  the  flowers  are  arranged  normally  in  threes  or  multiples  of  that 
number.  It  is  only  in  tropical  and  subtropical  regions  that  endogenous  plants  at- 
tain any  very  great  development,  or  yield  fibres  suitable  for  textile  purposes.  To 
an  inhabitant  of  the  northern  temperate  zone  an  endogenous  plant  whose  green 
leaves  yield  valuable  fibres,  is  a  curiosity  only  to  be  seen  in  conservatories  and 
botanical  gardens. 

Six  orders  of  Endogens  yield  foliaceous  fibres  which  are  commercially  valuable. 

The  Liliaceae,  or  Lily  Tribe. — The  species  of  this  tribe  are  widely  scattered 
over  the  world.  They  are,  however,  much  more  abundant  in  the  temperate  zone 
than  in  tropical  regions,  where  they  exist  chiefly  in  an  arborescent  state.  This 
order  includes  the  different  species  of  Aloes,  the  Yucca  of  the  Southern  States, 
and  the  Phormium  Tenax,  or  Flax  Lily  of  New  Zealand.  The  Aloes  are  found 
mostly  in  Africa;  one  species  is,  however,  a  native  of  the  West  Indies,  and  two 
or  three  are  indigenous  to  the  Arabian  Peninsula  and  Southern  Asia.  A  species 
of  Aloe  found  at  the  Canary  Islands,  the  A.  Dracaenas,  is  described  as  from  seventy 
to  eighty  feet  in  height,  with  a  diameter  at  the  base  of  sixteen  feet. 

In  the  East  Indies  Liliaceous  Plants  are  rare.  In  New  Holland  and  New  Zea- 
land they  form  a  distinctly  marked  feature  of  the  vegetation.  In  countries  where 
the  woody  and  prickly  species  of  aloes  abound,  they  are  often  planted  as  hedges ; 
some  species  are  often  described  by  travellers  as  the  Agave,  or  Bromelia,  which 
they  resemble  in  a  degree.  Of  the  Yucca,  which  belongs  to  this  order,  there  are 
at  least  five  species  indigenous  to  the  United  States,  flourishing  naturally  upon  the 
poorest  soils,  from  the  Potomac  to  Texas.  Their  botanical  names  are  Yucca 
filamcntosa,  Y.  gloriosa,  Y.  aloifolia,  Y.  angustifolia,  and  Y.  recurvifolia.  The 
common  names  and  synonymes  for  the  Y.  filamcntosa,  are  bear  grass,  silk  grass, 
Eve's  thread,  and  everlasting.  The  Y.  gloriosa  is  known  as  the  Spanish  bayonet, 
Adam's  needle,  Petre  and  Dwarf  Palmetto.  All  the  species  afford  an  abundance 
of  the  strongest,  fibres,  from  six  inches  to  two  feet  in  length.  Of  the  Y.  filamen- 
tosa,  Elliot  in  his  Botany  of  South  Carolina  says,  "  it  appears  to  possess  the 
strongest  fibres  of  any  vegetable  whatever,  and  if  it  can  be  raised  with  facility 
will  furnish  a  valuable  article  in  domestic  economy."  The  Phormium  Tenax,  or 
New  Zealand  Flax  Lily,  was  discovered  during  the  voyage  of  Captain  Cook,  and 
was  introduced  into  Europe  in  1791  by  the  French  Botanist,  Labillardiere.  It  has 
become  acclimated,  and  flourishes  well  in  the  South  of  France,  and  also  in  Al- 
geria. It  furnishes  a  beautifully  strong,  fine  fibre,  which  is  used  to  some  consider- 
able extent.  This  plant  has  also  been  introduced  into  South  Carolina,  and  other 
Southern  States,  where  it  flourishes  and  propagates  itself  in  a  wild  state. 

Bromeliaceae,  or  Pine  Apple  Tribe. — These  are  all,  without  exception,  natives 
of  the  continent  and  islands  of  America,  from  whence  they  have  migrated  in  such 
numbers,  that  they  now  constitute  a  part  of  the  flora  of  the  west  coast  of  Africa, 
and  some  parts  of  the  East  Indies.  The  leaves  of  the  common  pine  apple,  with 
whose  fruit  every  one  is  so  familiar,  furnish  fibres  from  which  very  fine  muslin 
has  been  manufactured.  • 

Arnaryllidaceas. — It  is  from  the  agaves  of  this  order  that  the  best  known 
foliaceous  fibres  are  produced.  The  leaves  are  thick,  pulpy,  and  of  a  greenish 
gray  color.  Their  length  varies  from  one  to  fifteen  or  twenty  feet,  and  the  fibres 
which  are  obtained  from  them  by  simple  scraping,  in  the  manner  hereafter  de- 
scribed, are  proportionally  long.  The  species  produciug  the  well  known  Sisal 
Hemp,  and  other  varieties,  are  known  as  the  Agave  Sisalana,  Agave  Americana, 
the  Henequen  de  Sosquil  of  Yucatan,  the  Ixtla  of  Goazalcoalcos,  the  Yashqui, 
Sacqui,  and  the  Pita.  Several  of  these  species  were  introduced  into  the  United 
States  in  1837,  and  have  since  become  naturalized.  Leaves  have  been  exhibited 
at  the  north  during  the  past  year,  cut  on  one  of  the  Florida  Keys,  over  ten  feet  in 
length,  and  yielding  fibres  far  superior  to  the  so-called  Manilla  Hemp. 

Pandanceat,  or  Screw  Pine  Tribe. — Plants  of  this  order  are  extremely  abun- 
dant on  the  coral  islands  of  the  South  Pacific  and  the  Indian  Archipelago,  and 
also  upon  the  Isle  of  France.  In  America  they  are  rare.  The  Pandanus  grows 
naturally  upon  arid,  sandy,  or  rocky  soils,  and  from  the  upper  part  of  tho  stems 

72 


shoot  out  numerous  aerial  roots,  which  burying  themselves  in  the  soil,  serve  as 
stays  or  braces,  and  prevent  the  plant  from  being  uprooted  by  the  winds.  The 
leaves  of  all  this  species  are  fibrous,  and  in  the  South  Pacific  furnish  almost  the 
only  material  for  bagging,  cordage,  mats,  baskets,  huts,  and  clothing.  The  fibres 
are  generally  white,  smooth  and  lustrous,  all  the  species  are  easily  propagated, 
and  their  natural  habitat  appears  to  be  those  sterile  arid  districts  of  the  tropics, 
which  are  unfit  for  any  other  useful  vegetation. 

ihtsacem,  or  Banana  Tribe— The  gigantic  leaves  of  the  plants  of  this  order 
have  parallel  longitudinal  fibres,  which  start  from  the  point  of  the  leaf,  and  running 
between  thin  lamina)  of  green  cellular  matter,  are  gathered  up  to  form  the  stalk, 
or  petiole  which  sustains  the  leaf.  The  Bananas  are  found  in  their  greatest  per- 
fection at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  in  the  Indian  Archipelago,  and  in  British 
Guiana,  and  some  of  the  West  India  Islands.  One  species  is  now  naturalized  in 
Louisiana;  another  is  cultivated  with  success  in  Europe  as  high  as  33°  or  34  N.  L. 
In  their  habits  of  growth,  they  generally  prefer  humid,  or  marshy  soils,  deep 
ravines,  and  moist  forests;  one  species  is  of  a  hardy  nature,  and  prefers  a  moun- 
tainous and  elevated  locality.  The  fibre  exported  in  such  large  quantities  from 
the  Phili  ppine  Islands,  under  the  name  of  Manilla  Hemp,  is  obtained  from  plants 
of  this  order,  Musa  paradkiaca  and  M.  textilis.  Specimens  of  the  fibres  of  the 
plantain  are  exhibited  among  the  collections  from  British  Guiana. 

Palmacem,  or  Palms. — The  plants  of  this  order  furnish  the  noblest  and  most 
characteristic  vegetation  of  tropical  countries,  and  yield  products  most  useful  and 
necessary  to  man.  Among  these  diversified  products  are,  flour,  starch,  yeast, 
sugar,  wine,  alcohol,  oil,  wax,  resins,  milk,  butter,  vinegar,  fruit,  and  medicines; 
household  utensils  and  building  materials,  cordage  and  thread,  paper  and  cloth, 
weapons,  and  habitations.  One  species,  the  Areca  catechu,  furnishes  the  betel-nut; 
another,  the  Borasus  flabelliformis,  yields  the  arrack  of  the  East  Indies;  the  Cocos 
nucifera  is  the  cocoa-nut  palm,  and  supplies  also  the  strong  supple  fibres  known 
as  coir,  of  which  when  the  Dutch  were  in  possession  of  Ceylon,  3,000,000  lbs. 
weight  were  annually  manufactured.  The  American  species  of  palm,  which  aro 
especially  valuable  for  affording  a  supply  of  superior  fibre,  are  the  Ticu  Palm  of 
the  Brazils,  the  Morriche  Palm  of  the  delta  of  the  Oronoco,  and  the  Gomuty  Palm 
of  the  West  Indies. 

Plants  of  the  above  described  orders,  sustain  the  same  relation  in  respect  to 
fibre,  to  southern  and  sub-tropical  climates,  that  the  flax  and  hemp  bear  to  the 
northern  and  temperate  zones.  In  other  respects  the  endogenous  fibrous  plants 
are  also  of  great  value  and  utility.  Clavigero,  in  his  work  on  Mexico,  speaking  of 
the  Agave  (pita,  or  maguey),  says — ■"  Some  species  furnish  protecting  inclosures, 
and  afford  impassable  hedges  to  other  objects  of  cultivation.  From  the  juice  of 
others  are  extracted  honey,  sugar,  vinegar, pulque,  and  ardent  spirits.  From  the 
trunk  and  thickest  portion  of  the  leaves  roasted  in  the  earth,  an  agreeable  food  is 
obtained.  The  stalks  serve  as  beams,  and  the  leaves  as  roofs  for  houses.  The 
thorns  answer  for  lancets,  awls,  needles,  arrow-heads,  and  other  cutting  and  pen- 
etrating instruments.  But  the  fibrous  substance  of  the  leaves  is  the  most  impor- 
tant gift  of  the  agave  genus  to  Mexico.  According  to  the  species,  the  fibre  varies 
in  quality  from  the  coarsest  hemp  to  the  finest  flax,  and  may  be  employed  as  a 
superior  substitute  for  both.  From  it,  the  ancient  Mexicans  fabricated  their  thread 
and  cordage,  mats  and  bagging,  shoes  and  clothing,  and  webs,  equivalent  to  cam- 
bric and  canvas;  the  hammocks  in  which  they  are  born,  repose  and  die;  the  paper 
on  which  they  painted  their  histories,  and  with  which  they  adorned  and  adored 
their  gods.  The  value  of  the  agaves  is  enhanced  by  their  indifference  to  soil, 
climate  and  season ;  by  the  simplicity  of  their  cultivation,  and  by  the  facility  of 
extracting  and  preparing  their  products.  It  is  not,  therefore,  surprising  that  the 
ancient  Mexicans  used  some  part  or  preparation  of  their  plants  in  their  civil, 
military  and  religious  ceremonies,  at  marriages  and  deaths,  nor  that  they  perpet- 
uated an  allusion  to  their  properties  in  the  name  of  their  capital." 

Humboldt,  Hernandez,  Warden,  and  Poinsett,  all  unite  in  boaring  similar  tes- 
timony to  the  value  of  the  Mexican  agave. 

The  foliaceous  fibres  of  American  production,  best  known  in  commerce,  are 
those  produced  in  the  vicinity  of  Merida,  in  Yucatan,  and  exported  under  the 
general  name  of  Sisal  Hemp.  The  bales  of  this  hemp,  as  they  come  into  our 
markets,  generally  contain  fibres  of  very  different  materials,  but  the  greater  part 
are  the  produce  of  tho  plants  known  as  the  pita,  or  ixlta,  and  the  sosquil,  the  hen- 
equen or  the  jenequen.  The  pita  grows  wild  in  forests,  and  furnishes  extremely 
fine  and  strong  fibres  which  can  be  used  for  sewing  thread.  The  sosquil,  or  hene- 
quen, on  tho  contrary,  grows  in  the  sun  spontaneously  throughout  tho  wholo  of 
Yucatan,  in  the  most  sterile  and  arid  places ;  it  is  also  cultivated  and  yields  a 
coarse  fibre  greatly  resembling  Manilla  hemp.  Tho  method  of  cultivation  and  pre- 
paration follow-ed  in  Yucatan  for  producing  tho  "Sisal  Hemp,"  is  as  follows:  the 
young  plants  are  placed  about  twelve  Spanish  feet  apart,  a  stony  or  sandy  location 
being  preferred.  During  the  first  two  years  some  labor  is  required  to  destroy  tho 
weeds  between  them.  Tho  shoots,  when  transplanted,  should  be  about  threo  feet 
high,  and  are  ready  to  yield  two  years  afterwards.  The  third  year  the  cutting  of 
tho  lower  rows  of  leaves  is  commenced,  and  every  four  months  the  operation  is 
repeated.  Each  robust  plant  is  capable  of  yielding  not  less  than  twenty-five,  or 
more  than  one  hundred  leaves  annually,  and  will  continue  to  produce  in  like 


THE    NEW- YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


manner  from  five  to  ten  years  in  succession.  Seventy-five  ordinary  leaves  are 
estimated  to  yield  seven  and  a  half  pounds  of  fibre ;  the  most  productive  leaves 
being  those  of  the  fourth  cutting.  At  intervals  of  two  years,  shoots  are  thrown 
out  from  the  roots,  from  five  to  ten  in  number,  in  a  state  to  be  transplanted ; 
these  are  removed,  with  a  single  exception,  to  form  new  plantations,  and  the 
parent  plant  is  also  cut  down  when  the  shoot  left  has  grown  sufficiently  to  supply 
its  place.  If  the  original  plant  is  suffered  to  grow,  it  eventually  shoots  up  into 
gigantic  flower  stalks,  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  in  height,  with  its  superior  ex- 
tremity covered  with  innumerable  little  plants,  which  have  received  the  name  of 
hene  quencitos.  The  hardiness  of  the  young  shoots  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact 
that  when  cut  from  the  parent  they  are  exposed  to  the  sun  for  fifteen  or  twenty 
days  to  "cicatrize  their  wounds,"  as  a  necessary  preparation  for  replanting.  "  The 
simplicity  of  their  cultivation,"  says  a  writer  on  this  subject  in  1838,  "maybe 
conceived  from  the  statement,  that  there  is  not  a  hoe,  nor  a  spade,  nor  a  harrow, 
nor  a  plough,  employed  in  the  agriculture  of  all  Yucatan." 

The  instruments  and  the  method  used  by  the  natives  of  Yucatan  for  extracting 
the  fibres  from  the  leaves,  are  of  the  rudest  description.  A  triangular  strip  of 
hard  wood,  with  sharp  edges  from  eight  to  twelve  inches  long,  and  from  one  to 
three  inches  thick,  is  with  them  an  equivalent  to  the  shaving-knife  of  the  cur- 
riers, by  which  they  scrape  away  from  each  side  of  the  leaf  on  a  board  renting 
against  the  breast,  the  cuticle  and  pulpy  substance  that  covers  the  fibres.  Another 
mode  of  accomplishing  the  same  object  is,  by  pressing  the  sharp  semi-lunar  ex- 
tremity of  a  long  flat  stick  against  any  fixed  surface  upon  a  narrow  longitudinal 
strip  of  the  leaf,  which  is  then  drawn  through  by  the  unemployed  hand.  The 
length,  weight,  strength,  and  other  qualities  of  the  fibres,  as  well  as  the  labor  of 
separating  them,  vary  with  the  magnitude,  age,  and  position  of  the  leaves.  The 
fibres,  after  being  freed  from  the  investing  pulpy  matter,  are  washed  and  dried  in 
the  sun,  which  thus  completes  the  labor  of  preparation,  and  the  Sisal  hemp  is  then 
ready  for  exportation  or  manufacture. 

Concerning  the  amount  of  Sisal  hemp  exported  from  Mexico  and  Central  Amer- 
ica, we  have  no  precise  data.  According  to  some  statistics  of  the  department  of 
Vera  Cruz,  published  at  Jalapa,  in  1831,  the  amount  of  fibre  extracted  from  the 
Pita,  and  exported  in  1830  from  the  port  of  Goazacoalcos  alone,  was  188,600 
pounds.  Large  quantities  of  Sisal  hemp  are  also  exported  every  year  to  Cuba,  and 
manufactured  into  coffee  bags.  The  fibre  which  it  most  closely  resembles,  is  the 
well-known  "Manilla  hemp,"  to  which  it  is  every  way  equal  as  regards  strength 
and  appearance,  and  in  the  opinion  of  some  judges,  the  best  qualities  of  Sisal  hemp 
are  superior  to  the  Manilla.  The  importations  of  Manilla  hemp  into  the  United 
States  are  very  large,  with  a  constant  yearly  increase.  The  number  of  bales  im- 
ported into  Boston  in  18-19  was  31,271 ;  with  an  average  weight  of  300  lbs.  per 
bale,  we  have  a  total  of  9,381,300  lbs.  All  this  large  amount  of  fibre  might  have 
been  furnished  equally  well  by  the  fibrous  endogenous  plants  of  America  and  of 
the  United  States,  had  this  business  received  an  equal  amount  of  care  and  atten- 
tion. It  must  especially  be  remembered,  that  the  Manilla  hemp  is  not,  as  its  name 
would  indicate,  a  true  hemp,  the  production  of  the  genus  Cannabis,  but  is  a  true 
foliaceous  fibre,  derived  from  the  stalk  and  leaves  of  an  endogenous  plant,  allied 
to  the  plants  producing  the  Sisal  hemp,  viz.,  from  the  Jlusa  tcxtilis,  and  paradisaica 
varieties  of  the  Musacea,  or  Banana  tribe.  The  processes  for  the  extraction  and 
cleansing  of  the  Manilla  fibres  are  very  similar  to  those  described  above,  as  followed 
by  the  natives  of  Yucatan,  for  the  preparation  of  the  Sisal  hemp.  The  vegetable 
tissues  enclosing  the  fibres  are  scraped  off  by  means  of  wooden  instruments,  and  the 
fibres  subsequently  washed  and  dried.  Other  methods,  followed  to  some  extent, 
are  to  macerate  the  leaves  in  water,  or  expose  them  to  the  influence  of  the  air  in 
humid  places,  in  the  shade,  until  the  investing  cellular  substance  is  destroyed. 

With  this  reference  to  the  value  and  method  of  producing  the  Sisal  hemp 
and  Manilla  fibres,  let  us  ask  the  question — In  what  manner  can  the  en- 
dogenous plants  yielding  foliaceous  fibres  become  subservient  as  sources  of 
future  wealth  to  the  United  States  ?  The  question  may  be  answered  as  follows  : 
Southern  and  Central  America,  with  the  adjacent  islands,  is  the  natural  habitat 
of  a  great  majority  of  the  orders  and  species  of  endogenous  plants,  which  yield 
valuable  fibres.  We  have  here  the  Agaves,  the  Palms,  the  Bananas,  the  Pine 
Apple,  and  the  Yuccas.  They  are  all  hardy,  productive,  perennial  plants,  which 
propagate  themselves  spontaneously  upon  the  worst  natural  soil,  and  become  in- 
finitely productive  when  aided  by  the  least  skill,  care,  or  labor  of  man.  All  of 
them  can  be  gradually  acclimated  and  profitably  propagated  in  the  most  sterile 
districts  of  the  Southern  States.  Their  introduction  and  cultivation  will  be  equi- 
valent therefore  to  the  direct  addition  of  absolute  fertility  to  the  most  sandy, 
sterile,  and  worn-out  districts  ;  and  we  run  no  risk  in  the  assertion,  that  foliaceous 
fibres  may  be  more  profitably  produced  on  the  poor  lands  of  Georgia,  Florida, 
and  the  Carolinas,  than  cortical  and  capsular  fibres  can  be  in  the  virgin  loams  of 
Ohio  and  Mississippi.  As  regards  their  introduction,  the  work  is  already  accom- 
dlished,  and  the  experiment  tried.  Some  of  the  fibrous-leaved  plants  are  natives, 
and  are  found  as  far  north  as  Virginia,  as  the  five  species  of  Yucca,  and  some  va- 
rieties of  the  Agave  (Agate  Tirginica),  Palm  and  Banana;  others  have  been 
brought  from  abroad,  and  are  now  acclimated,  as  the  Phormium  Tenax,  or  New 
Zealand  Flax  Lily,  which  now  grows  spontaneously  in  various  parts  of  the  South. 


Ana  here  let  us  notice  the  most  important  step  which  has  thus  far  been  taken 
in  regard  to  this  matter,  and  at  the  same  time  do  honor  to  the  memory  of  a  wise, 
sagacious,  patriotic  man,  who  sacrificed  his  life  in  the  attempt  to  confer  a  great 
national  benefit  upon  his  country  ;  we  refer  to  the  late  Dr.  Henry  Perrino.  This 
gentleman,  in  the  course  of  a  long  residence  as  United  States  Consul  in  the  State 
of  Tobasco,  and  at  Campeachy,  became  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  several 
varieties  of  fibrous-leaved  plants  growing  in  these  districts,  together  with  their 
manner  of  growth,  cultivation,  and  the  means  employed  for  the  extraction  and 
preparation  of  the  fibres;  being  impressed  also  with  the  great  importance  and 
benefit  of  introducing  these  plants  into  the  United  States,  and  having  satisfied 
himself  of  the  practicability  of  the  enterprise,  Dr.  Perrine  in  1837  petitioned 
Congress  to  aid  in  carrying  out  the  attempt  upon  an  extensive  scale.  The  subject 
was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Agriculture,  who  reported  a  bill  granting  to 
Dr.  Perrine  and  his  associates  under  the  name  of  the  "  Tropical  Plant  Company," 
the  pre-emption  rights  to  thirty-six  sections  of  land,  situated  in  East  Florida,  below 
the  parallel  of  26  N.  L.  The  bill  received  the  almost  unanimous  consent  of 
Congress,  and  Dr.  Perrine  immediately  entered  upon  the  work.  A  small  planta- 
tatiou  was  formed  at  Cape  Florida  and  other  points  in  the  vicinity,  aud  a  variety 
of  plants  brought  from  Central  America  were  introduced.  Among  these  were 
three  or  four  species  of  the  Agave,  including  the  varieties  producing  the  Sisal  hemp, 
the  Pulque  Agave,  the  Cochineal  Cactus,  the  Arnotto  plant,  the  Date  palm,  Paper 
Mulberry,  and  Tumeric.  All  these  succeeded  well,  and  every  thing  at  the  in- 
ception promised  the  happiest  results,  when  the  hostilities  of  the  Indians,  conse- 
quent to  the  Seminole  war,  compelled  the  abandonment  of  the  plantations.  Dr. 
Perrine,  however,  whose  whole  soul  was  devoted  to  the  enterprise,  returned  after 
an  interval,  and  was  subsequently  killed  by  the  savages  in  the  vicinity.  Since 
this  period  we  do  not  understand  that  any  further  attempts  have  been  made  to 
carry  out  the  enterprise.  The  plants,  although  neglected,  have  flourished,  and 
propagated  themselves  extensively.  The  agaves,  especially,  have  become  dissemi- 
nated throughout  the  whole  of  the  neighboring  country,  and  on  some  of  the 
islands  in  the  vicinity  of  Key  West  they  may  be  found  in  great  luxuriance. 

The  first  great  step,  therefore,  the  introduction  of  the  plants  into  the  United 
States  has  been  accomplished  successfully  ;  and  the  field  is  now  open  for  further 
efforts,  which,  if  properly  made,  must  be  crowned  with  success. 

One  great  difficulty  experienced  in  Yucatan,  has  been  the  want  of  a  proper  ma- 
chine for  suitably  cleaning  out  the  fibres  from  their  enveloping  vegetable  tissues  ; 
the  rude  method  followed  by  the  natives  being  too  slow  and  expensive.  An  Indian 
with  his  sharp  stick  only,  and  indolent  habits,  will  generally  clean  from  four  to 
eight  pounds  per  diem.  A  few  years  since  a  machine  was  invented  in  Massachu- 
setts for  the  purpose  of  cleaning  the  fibres,  and  sent  out  to  Merida  by  a  Boston 
firm  having  large  commercial  dealings  at  that  port.  The  machine  is  understood  to 
have  worked  well,  but  the  vegetable  acid  generated  by  the  fermentation  of  tho 
expressed  juice  of  the  leaves,  corroded  the  metallic  parts  of  the  machine  it  was 
brought  in  contact  with,  to  such  an  extent  as  to  render  them  useless.  The  plan 
was  consequently  abandoned.  Within  the  past  year  a  chemical  process  has  been 
discovered,  which  dissolves  the  green  fleshy  part  of  the  leaves,  while  the  fibres 
remain  intact,  and  after  washing  are  ready  for  use.  This  process,  which  is  ex- 
ceedingly cheap  and  simple,  is  controlled  by  a  Massachusetts  company  who  intend 
to  put  it  into  operation. 

The  introduction  of  the  fibrous-leaved  plants  into  the  Southern  States,  from 
their  adaption  to  sterile  soils,  ease  of  cultivation,  abundant  reproduction,  and  long 
duration,  must  prove  of  incalculable  importance.  With  the  fibres  of  one  exotic 
vegetable  the  Southern  States  are  now  supplying  materials  for  the  clothing  of  a 
large  proportion  of  the  human  family ;  with  the  fibres  of  other  exotic  plants 
they  may  hereafter  supply  materials  for  thread,  twine,  cordage,  cambric,  and  can- 
vas to  an  almost  equal  extent. 


EAST  INDIA  TROPICAL  FIBRES. 

AMONG  the  valuable  fibres  imported  from  the  East  Indies,  besides  the  Manilla 
hemp,  already  referred  to,  are  the  "Sun  hemp,"  and  the  varieties  of  jute, 
The  former  is  the  prepared  fibre  of  the  bark  of  the  Crotalaria  juncea,  a  well 
known  Indian  plant.  Its  cost  in  India  is  not  far  from  fifty  to  sixty  dollars  per  ton, 
when  properly  cleaned  and  dressed.  This  fibre  is  almost  universally  employed 
over  nearly  the  whole  of  Southern  Asia,  as  the  material  for  cordage,  especially  for 
coarse  bale-rope.  The  Sun  grows  in  the  greatest  abundance  in  Bengal,  one  variety 
attaining  the  height  of  twelve  or  fourteen  feet,  while  the  more  common  kind 
varies  from  six  to  eight  feet  in  height.  An  acre  of  the  plants  is  estimated  as 
capable  of  yielding  about  600  lbs.  of  cleaned  fibre.  The  fibre  of  the  Sun  is 
longer,  somewhat  coarser  than  American  dew  rotted  hemp.  The  mode  of  sep- 
arating the  fibre  is  extremely  simple,  as  are  all  mechanical  operations  in  India. 
When  the  seed  vessels  have  nearly  attained  their  full  size,  the  plants  are  cut,  tied 
in  bundles,  and  steeped  in  water  for  two  or  three  days ;  then  taken  out,  and  the 

T8 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


stalks  broken,  about  a  foot  from  the  lower  end,  by  n  man  standing  up  to  hisxnees  in 
water,  who,  holding  a  few  of  the  stalks  with  the  largo  ends  from  him,  threshes 
the  water  with  them,  till  the  broken  pieces  are  separated  and  fall  off.  Then 
turning  them,  he  takes  hold  of  the  fibres  that  have  been  freed,  and  beats  the 
small  ends  in  the  same  manner,  until  the  fibre  is  entirely  separated  from  the 
stalks.    A  few  strokes  are  sufficient.    It  is  then  dried  and  packed  up  for  market. 

The  fibres  imported  from  the  East  Indies  under  the  name  of  Jute,  appear  to 
bo  derived  from  the  bark  of  two  species  of  Corchorus,  a  plant  allied  to  the  Linden 
tree.  It  is  cleaned  and  prepared  by  maceration  in  water  and  subsequent  scrap- 
ing. It  resembles  the  Sun  hemp  in  many  respects,  but  is  somewhat  finer,  and 
possesses  less  strength. 

The  well  known  gunny  cloth,  of  which  vast  quantities  are  yearly  imported 
into  the  United  States,  is  not  made  exclusively  from  any  one  variety  of  fibre, 
the  warp  not  uufrequently  being  of  one  material,  and  the  filling  of  a  totally 
distinct  fibre.  Usually,  however,  it  is  composed  of  the  fibres  of  the  Crotalaria 
juncea  (the  Sun),  and  of  the  Corchorus  (Jute).  Flax  and  hemp  never 
enter  into  its  composition.  Gunny  is  imported  into  the  United  States  in  the 
form  of  cloth  and  bags ;  the  quantity  sent  yearly  from  Calcutta,  the  prin- 
ciple shipping  port  for  this  article,  is  immense,  amounting  in  1849  to  114,239 
pieces,  and  3,230,400  bags.  Besides  these  importations,  a  large  quantity  is  sent 
from  the  East  Indies  in  the  form  of  envelopes  for  other  materials,  as  saltpetre, 
Java  coffee,  &c,  &c.  Owing  to  the  great  cheapness  of  the  gunny,  the  bags 
are  rarely  used  more  than  once,  before  they  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  papermakers 
and  rag-merchants.  In  this  condition  they  constitute  the  cheapest  paper  stock 
to  be  procured  in  the  market ;  the  demand  for  it  is  not,  however  extensive,  even 
at  low  prices,  since  it  is  impossible  to  bleach  the  fibres  sufficiently  to  render 
them  serviceable  for  the  manufacture  of  white  paper.  This  is  owing  to  the  fact, 
that  the  gunny  fibre  is  procured  from  the  bark  of  a  tree,  and  contains  a  large 
quantity  of  humic  and  cremic  acids,  together  with  some  mineral  bases,  and  some 
tannin.  These  substances  rapidly  neutralize  and  destroy  almost  any  bleaching 
agent  which  can  be  applied.  The  use  of  gunny  is,  therefore,  wholy  restricted  to 
manufacture  of  brown  wrapping  and  envelope  papers. 

The  most  singular  vegetable  fibre  of  the  East  Indies,  convertible  into  cordage, 
is  the  production  of  a  Sago  palm.  This  fibre  is  known  best  as  Ejoa,  and  resembles 
black  horse-hair.  Each  tree  produces  six  leaves  in  the  year,  and  each  leaf  yields 
ten  and  a  half  ounces  of  the  fibre,  which  makes  the  annual  produce  of  the  tree 
equal  to  about  four  pounds.  Some  of  the  best  trees  produce  full  one  pound  of 
fibres  in  each  leaf.  They  grow  from  the  base  of  the  foot-stalks  of  the  leaves,  and 
embrace  completely  the  trunk  of  the  tree.  Both  fibres  and  leaves  are  easily  re- 
moved without  injuring  the  tree.  Cables  made  from  this  unique  article  are  oc- 
casionally brought  from  India  to  the  United  States,  but  not  as  an  article  of  com- 
merce. The  cordage  known  in  the  East  Indies  as  Coir,  is  produced  from  the 
short,  woody,  and  apparently  intractable,  husky  fibres  of  the  outer  envelope  of 
the  cocoanut.  These  fibres  are  prepared  by  soaking  the  husks  in  water  for  a  great 
length  of  time,  not  unfrequently  exceeding  six  months,  or  until  they  become  soft. 
The  husks  are  then  dried  and  beaten  until  the  woody  part  falls  out  like  saw-dust, 
leaving  only  the  fibres.  The  cordage  made  from  the  fibres  so  prepared,  is  said  to 
be  the  finest  that  can  be  produced  from  any  vegetable  material. 

The  true  hemp  and  flax  are  not  grown  in  the  East  Indies  to  any  extent  for  the 
fibres,  but  for  the  seed  merely.  Within  a  few  years  a  society  has  been  formed  in 
London,  under  the  auspices  of  the  East  India  Company,  to  induce  the  natives  to 
preserve  and  to  prepare  the  fibres,  as  well  as  the  seeds  of  these  plants,  but  their 
success  is  yet  quite  indifferent.  The  natives  are  unwilling  to  give  the  labor  and 
care  necessary  to  clean  and  prepare  the  delicate  fibres  of  flax,  especially  since  they 
find  their  wants  fully  supplied  by  the  fibres  of  the  Corchorm  and  Crotalaria,  which 
are  cultivated  and  prepared  with  great  ease  and  economy. 

The  fibre  obtained  in  India  from  a  species  of  nettle,  and  known  as  China 
grass,  Bhea  fibre,  and  Calooee  hemp,  has  recently  attracted  considerable  attention 
in  Europe,  especially  in  France.  Treated  with  a  hot  solution  of  carbonate  of 
soda,  it  assumes  to  a  great  degree  the  softness  and  lustre  of  silk,  and  in  fact  is  now 
used  to  a  very  considerable  extent  as  the  warp  of  certain  descriptions  of  French 
silks.  Specimens  of  this  fibre,  beautifully  prepared,  have  been  sent  to  the  United 
States  during  the  past  summer,  and  have  not  failed  to  attract  the  attention  of 
manufacturers.  If  the  China  grass  should  become  an  object  of  demand,  unlimited 
quantities  can  be  obtained  in  India  at  an  exceedingly  low  rate. 

One  curious  fact  noticed  in  regard  to  almost  all  fibres  derived  from  endoge- 
nous plants,  is  that  they  do  not  admit  of  being  tarred,  and  are  not  susceptible 
to  its  influence  as  hemp  and  flax  fibres  are.  This  is  particularly  the  case 
with  the  Manilla  and  Sisal  hemp.  Tar  in  any  case  is  applied  merely  to  pre- 
serve cordage,  not  to  strengthen  it,  and  it  is  a  well  known  fact,  that  tarred  cordage 
when  new  is  weaker  than  white  fibres,  and  the  difference  increases  by  keeping. 
It  is  further  worthy  of  notice  that  tar  is  not  the  produce  of  any  trees  growing  in 
the  tropics,  the  natural  habitat  of  the  endogeneous  plants  yielding  foliaceous 
fibres. 

As  a  substitute  for  tarring  cordage,  the  natives  of  the  Indian  Archipelago  arc 
accustomed  to  tan  their  fibres,  after  they  have  been  wrought  into  both  twine 

74 


and  sail  cloth.  The  treatment  is  said  to  give  additional  strength.  The  ap- 
plication of  tannin  to  vegetable  fibres  has  not  been  thoroughly  investigated, 
and  it  is  a  question,  whether  as  a  preservative  of  cordage  its  operation  might  not 
prove  highly  beneficial. 


t 

ON  MR.  WHITWORTH'S  MODE  OF  PRODUCING  PLANE  METALLIC 

SURFACES. 

MR.  JOSEPH  WHITWORTH  is  one  of  the  English  Royal  Con.iuissioners  to 
the  American  Exhibition ;  and  all  those  who  are  interested  in  good  tools 
for  the  construction  of  machinery,  must  have  observed  in  their  exploration  in 
the  Crystal  Palace,  the  lathes,  screwing  machinery,  and  other  mechanical  con- 
trivances of  this  very  ingenious  constructor.  We  propose  to  describe  in  the 
present  article  the  method  employed  by  Mr.  Whitworth  to  produce  plane  metal- 
lic surfaces.  All  workers  in  metal  are  aware  of  the  great  difficulty  of  securing 
such  surfaces  with  a  degree  of  accuracy  such  as  is  required  for  nice  work.  It  will  bo 
showji  in  the  course  of  these  remarks  that  the  usual  method  of  grinding  with 
emery  powder  is  incapable  of  producing  a  plane  surface. 

The  surface  plates  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Jos.  Whitworth  &  Co.,  in  the  New 
Exhibition,  are  formed  of  cast-iron,  and  are  remarkable  for  the  high  degree  of 
truth  they  possess,  and  for  the  mode  adopted  in  preparing  them. 

If  one  of  them  be  carefully  slid  on  the  other,  to  exclude  the  air,  the  two  plates 
will  adhere  together  with  considerable  force,  by  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere. 
The  surfaces  should  be  well  rubbed  previously,  with  a  dry  cloth,  till  they  are  per- 
fectly free  from  moisture,  that  the  experiment  may  afford  a  fair  test  of  accu- 
racy. If  any  moisture  be  present  it  will  act  like  glue,  and  cause  adhesion  to  take 
place,  supposing  the  surfaces  to  be  much  inferior.  But  if  they  be  perfectly  dry, 
adhesion  proves  a  high  degree  of  truth,  rarely  attained. 

The  experiment  may  be  varied,  by  letting  one  surface  descend  slowly  on  tho 
other,  thus  allowing  a  stratum  of  air  to  form  between  them.  Before  they  come 
into  contact,  the  upper  plate  will  become  buoyant,  and  will  float  on  the  air  with- 
out support  from  the  hand.  This  remarkable  effect  would  seem  to  depend  on  tho 
close  approximation  of  the  two  surfaces  at  all  points,  without  contact  in  any — a 
condition  which  coidd  not  be  obtained,  without  extreme  accuracy  in  both.  The 
escape  of  the  remaining  portion  of  air,  is  retarded  by  friction  against  the  surfaces, 
the  force  of  which  nearly  balances  the  pressure  of  the  upper  plate.  If  one  end 
of  the  upper  plate  be  slightly  raised  and  allowed  to  fall  suddenly,  the  intervening 
air  will  act  like  a  cushion,  causing  a  muffled  sound  to  be  emitted,  quite  different 
from  that  produced  by  the  concussion  of  metallic  bodies. 

These  surfaces  were  brought  to  their  present  state  by  means  of  filing  and 
scraping,  without  being  afterwards  ground.  The  method  hitherto  adopted  in 
getting  up  plane  surfaces  has  been  (after  filing  to  the  straight  edge)  to  grind 
them  together,  with  emery.  In  some  cases,  it  has  been  customary  to  try  them 
previously  on  a  surface  plate,  and  to  go  over  them  with  scraping  tool ;  a  but  they 
have  always  been  ground  afterwards.  The  surface  plate  itself  has  been  invariably 
treated  in  the  same  manner.  The  process  of  grinding  is,  in  fact,  regarded  as  in- 
dispensable wherever  truth  is  required.  The  present  examples,  however,  show 
that  scraping  is  calculated  to  produce  a  higher  degree  of  truth  than  has  ever  been 
attained  by  grinding.  In  reference  to  both  processes  a  great  degree  of  misconcep- 
tion prevails,  the  effect  of  which  is  materially  to  retard  the  progress  of  improve- 
ment, and  which  is  of  great  importance  to  remove.  While  grinding  is  universally 
regarded  as  indispensable  to  a  finished  surface,  it  is,  in  fact,  positively  detrimental. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  operation  of  scraping,  hitherto  so  much  neglected,  con- 
stitutes the  only  certain  means  we  possess  for  the  attainment  of  accuracy.  A 
few  remarks  will  clearly  illustrate  the  truth  of  this  statement. 

It  is  required  in  a  surface  for  mechanical  purposes,  that  all  the  bearing  points 
should  be  in  the  same  plane ;  that  they  should  be  at  equal  distances  from  one 
another,  and  that  they  should  be  sufficiently  numerous  for  the  particular  applica- 
tionintended.  Where  surfaces  remain  fixed  together,  the  bearing  points  may,  without 
disadvantage,  be  fewer  in  number,  and  consequently  wider  apart;  but  in  the 
case  of  sliding  surfaces,  the  points  should  be  numerous  and  close  together. 

A  little  consideration  will  make  it  evident  that  these  conditions  cannot  be  ob- 
tained by  the  process  of  grinding.  And,  first,  with  regard  to  general  outline,  how  is 
the  original  error  to  be  got  rid  of?  Let  it  be  supposed  that  one  of  the  surfaces 
is  concave,  and  the  other  a  true  plane.  The  tendency  of  grinding,  no  doubt,  will 
be  to  reduce  the  error  of  the  former,  but  the  opposite  error  will,  at  the  same  time, 
be  created  in  the  true  surface.  The  only  case  in  which  an  original  error  could 
be  extirpated,  would  be,  when  it  was  met  by  a  corresponding  error,  of  exactly  tho 
same  amount,  in  the  opposed  surface,  and  the  one  destroyed  the  other.  But  it  is 
evident,  that  where  only  two  surfaces  are  concerned,  tho  variety  of  error  in  tho 
general  outline,  is  not  sufficient  to  afford  any  probability  of  mutual  compensation. 

It  will  further  appear,  that  if  the  original  error  be  inconsiderable,  the  surfaces 
must  lose  instead  of  gaining  truth.    It  results  from  the  nature  of  the  process,  that 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


certain  parts  are  acted  upon  for  a  longer  time  than  others.  They  are  consequcntly 
more  worn,  and  the  surfaces  are  made  hollow.  Nor  is  there  any  possibility  of 
obviating  this  source  of  error,  except  by  sliding  one  surface  entirely  on  and  oft'  the 
other,  at  each  move,  a  method  which,  it  need  not  be  shown,  would  be  imprac- 
ticable. It  may  be  mentioned,  as  an  additional  cause  of  error,  that  the  grinding 
powder  collects  in  greater  quantity  about  the  edges  of  the  metal,  than  upon  the 
interior  parts,  producing  the  well  known  effect  of  the  bell-mouthed  form.  This  is 
particularly  objectionable  in  the  case  of  slides,  from  the  access  afforded  to  particles 
of  dirt,  and  the  immediate  injury  thereby  occasioned.  Another  circumstance  ma- 
terially affecting  the  durability  of  ground  slides  is,  that  a  portion  of  the  emery 
becomes  fixed  in  the  pores  of  the  metal,  causing  a  rapid  and  irregular  wear  of  the 
surfaces. 

If  grinding  is  not  adapted  to  form  a  true  general  outline,  neither  is  it  to  pro- 
duce accuracy  in  the  minuter  detail.  There  can  be  little  chance  of  a  multitude 
of  points  being  brought  to  bear,  and  distributed  equally,  under  a  process  from 
which  all  particular  management  is  excluded.  To  obtain  any  such  result,  it  is 
necessary  to  possess  the  means  of  operating  independently  on  each  point,  as  occa- 
sion may  require;  whereas  grinding  affects  all  simultaneously.  It  is  subject 
neither  to  observation  nor  control.  There  is  no  opportunity  of  regulating  the 
distribution  of  the  powder,  or  of  modifying  its  application,  with  reference  to  the 
particular  condition  of  different  parts  of  the  surface.  The  variation  in  the  quantity 
of  the  powder,  and  the  quality  of  the  metal,  will,  of  necessity,  produce  inequalities, 
even  supposing  they  did  not  previously  exist.  Hence,  if  a  ground  surface  be  ex- 
amined, the  bearing  points  will  be  found  lying  together  in  irregular  masses,  with 
extensive  cavities  intervening.  An  appearance  indeed  of  beautiful  regularity  is 
produced,  and  hence,  no  doubt,  the  universal  prejudice  so  long  established  in 
favor  of  the  process.  But  this  appearance,  so  far  from  being  any  evidence  of 
truth,  serves  only  to  conceal  error.  Under  this  disguise,  surfaces  pass  without 
examination,  which,  if  unground,  would  be  at  once  rejected. 

Another  evil  of  grinding  is,  that  it  takes  from  the  mechanic  all  sense  of  respon- 
sibility, and  all  spirit  of  emulation,  while  it  deludes  him  with  the  idea  that  the 
Burface  will  be  ultimately  ground  true.  The  natural  consequence  is,  that  he  slurs 
it  over,  trusting  to  the  effect  of  grinding,  and  well  knowing,  that  it  will  efface  all 
evidence  either  of  care  or  neglect  on  his  part.  It  thus  appears  that  the  practice 
of  grinding  has  altogether  impeded  the  progress  of  improvement.  A  true  sur- 
face, instead  of  being,  as  it  ought,  in  common  use,  is  almost  unknown :  few  me- 
chanics have  any  distinct  knowledge  of  the  method  to  be  pursued  for  obtaining  it, 
nor  do  practical  men  sufficiently  advert,  either  to  the  immense  importance,  or  to 
the  comparative  facility  of  the  acquisition. 

Due  latitude  must  be  allowed  the  expression  "  true  surface."  Absolute  truth 
is  confessedly  unattainable.  Moreover,  it  would  be  possible  to  aim  at  a  degree  of 
perfection  beyond  the  necessity  of  the  particular  case,  the  difficult)-  of  which 
would  more  than  counterbalance  the  advantage.  But  it  is  certain  that  the  pro- 
gress hitherto  made  falls  far  short  of  this  practical  limit,  and  that  considerations  of 
economy  alone,  would  carry  improvement  many  degrees  higher.  The  want  of  it 
in  various  departments  of  the  arts  and  manufactures  is  already  sensible.  The 
valves  of  steam  engines,  for  example  ; — the  tables  of  printing  presses, — stereotype 
plates, — surface  plates, — slides  of  all  kinds,  require  a  degree  of  truth,  much  supe- 
rior to  that  they  generally  possess.  In  these,  and  a  multitude  of  other  instauces, 
the  want  of  truth  is  attended  with  serious  evils.  In  the  case  of  the  slide  valves  of 
steam  engines,  there  is  occasioned  a  great  loss  of  steam  power,  and  also  an  im- 
mense increase  of  wear  and  tear.* — In  stereotype  printing,  inaccuracy  of  the 
plates  renders  packing  necessary  to  obtain  an  uniform  impression.  A  vast  amount 
of  time  and  labour  is  thus  sacrificed,  and  the  end  is,  after  all,  but  imperfectly 
attained. 

The  extensive  class  of  machinery,  denominated  tools,  affords  an  important  ap- 
plication of  the  subject.  Here  every  consideration  combines  to  enforce  accuracy. 
It  is  implied  in  the  very  name  of  the  planing  engine.  The  express  purpose  of  the 
machine  is  to  produce  true  surfaces,  and  it  is  itself  constructed  of  slides,  according 
to  the  truth  of  which  will  be  that  of  the  work  performed.  When  it  is  considered 
that  the  lathe  and  the  planing  engine  are  used  in  the  making  of  all  other  machines, 
and  are  continually  reproducing  surfaces  similar  to  their  own,  it  will  manifestly 
appear  of  the  first  importance,  that  they  should  themselves  be  perfect  models. 
There  is,  perhaps,  no  description  of  machinery,  which  would  not  afford  an  illus- 
tration of  the  importance  belonging  to  truth  of  surface,  and  at  the  same  time,  of 
the  present  necessity  for  material  improvement ;  nor  is  there  any  subject  con- 
nected with  mechanics,  the  bearings  of  which,  on  the  public  interests,  whether 
manufacturing  or  scientific,  are  more  varied  or  more  extensive. 


*  Mr.  Dewrance,  superintendent  of  the  locomotive  department  of  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  Rail- 
way, in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Whitworth,  dated  the  23d  of  December.  1S40.  says — "In  answer  to  yours  of  the 
20th  inst  respecting  the  difference  of  the  slide  valves  got  up  with  emery,  and  those  that  are  scraped  or 
got  up  according  to  your  plan,  the  difference  is  as  follows: — I  have  this  day  taken  out  a  pair  of  valves  got 
np  with  emery  that  have  been  in  constant  wear  five  months,  and  I  find  them  grooved  in  the  usual  way. 
Tlie  deepest  grooves  are  one  eighth  of  an  inch  deep,  and  the  whole  surface,  which  is  eight  inches  broad, 
is  one  sixteenth  hollow,  or  out  of  truth.  Those  that  were  scraped  are  perfectly  true,  and  likely  to  work 
five  months  longer. 


The  improvement  so  much  to  be  desired,  will  speedily  follow  upon  the  discon- 
tinuance of  grinding.  Recourse  must  then  be  had  to  the  natural  process.  The 
surface  plate  and  the  scrapiug  tool  will  come  into  constant  use,  affording  the 
certain  and  speedy  means  of  attaining  any  degree  of  truth  which  may  be  required. 
A  higher  standard  of  excellence  will  be  gradually  established,  the  influence  of 
which  will  be  felt  throughout  all  mechanical  operations,  while  to  the  mechanic 
himself,  a  new  field  will  be  opened,  in  which  he  will  find  ample  scope  for  the 
exercise  of  skill,  both  manual  and  mental.  The  subject  will  be  best  illustrated  by 
a  description  of  the  process. 

There  are  two  cases  for  consideration,  in  reference  to  the  preparation  of  sur- 
faces,— the  one,  where  a  true  surface  plate  is  already  provided,  as  a  model  for  the 
work  in  hand,  and  the  other,  where  an  original  surface  is  to  be  prepared. 

The  former  case  is  that  which  will  generally  occur  in  practice.  And  here  the 
method  to  be  pursued  is  simple,  requiring  care  rather  than  skill.  Coloring  mat- 
ter, such  as  red  ochre  and  oil,  is  spread  over  the  surface  plate  as  equally  as  jws- 
sible.  The  work  in  hand,  having  been  previously  filed  up  to  the  straight  edge,  is 
then  applied  thereto,  and  moved  slightly  to  fix  the  color,  which,  adhering  to  the 
parts  in  contact,  afterwards  shows  the  prominences  to  be  reduced.  This  operation 
is  frequently  repeated,  and  as  the  work  advances,  a  smaller  quantity  of  coloring 
matter  is  used,  till  at  last,  a  few  particles  spread  out  by  the  finger  suffice  for  the 
purpose,  forming  a  thin  film  over  the  brightness  of  the  plate.  A  true  surface  is 
thus  rendered  a  test  of  the  greatest  nicety,  whereby  the  smallest  error  may  be 
detected.  At  this  stage  of  the  process,  the  two  surfaces  must  be  well  rubbed  to- 
gether, that  a  full  impression  may  be  made  by  the  color.  The  higher  points  on 
the  rising  surface  become  clouded  over,  while  the  other  parts  are  left  more  or  less 
in  shade.  The  dappled  appearance  thus  produced,  shows  to  the  eye  of  the 
mechanic,  the  precise  condition  of  the  new  surface  in  every  part,  and  enables  him 
to  proceed  with  confidence  in  bringing  it  to  correspondence  with  the  original. 
Before  this  can  be  accomplished,  however,  a  scraping  tool  must  be  employed,  the 
file  not  having  the  precision  or  nicety  requisite  to  finish  the  operation.  Expe- 
rience will  be  a  sufficient  guide  when  to  exchange  the  one  for  the  other.  It  will 
be  found,  that  when  the  parts  to  be  operated  upon  have  become  to  any  considerable 
extent  subdivided,  scraping  is  much  the  more  expeditious  method.  The  scraping 
tool  should  be  made  of  the  best  steel,  and  carefully  sharpened  to  a  fine  edge  on  a 
Turkey -stone,  the  use  of  which  must  be  frequently  repeated.  "Worn-out  files  may 
be  converted  into  convenient  scraping  tools.  A  flat  file,  with  the  broad  end  bent 
and  sharpened,  will  be  most  suitable  in  the  first  instance,  and  afterwards  a  three- 
sided  file  sharpened  on  all  the  edges.  It  will  be  matter  of  discretion,  as  before 
remarked,  how  far  to  proceed  in  working  up  the  minute  detail,  but  it  is  essential 
that  the  bearing  points,  whether  more  or  less  numerous,  should  be  equally  distri- 
buted, and  a  uniform  character  preserved  throughout.  This  rule  should  be 
carefully  observed  during  the  progress  of  the  work,  as  well  as  at  its  conclusion. 

In  order  to  secure  the  equal  advance  of  all  the  parts  together,  particular  atten- 
tion must  be  paid  to  the  coloring  matter,  both  with  reference  to  the  quantity  em- 
ployed, and  its  equal  distribution.  If  too  small  a  quantity  be  used  in  the  first 
instance,  it  will  afford  no  evidence  of  the  general  condition  of  the  surface.  It  will 
merely  indicate  the  particular  points  which  happen  to  be  most  prominent,  and  to 
reduce  these  in  detail  would  be  only  a  waste  of  time,  so  long  as  they  are  consid- 
erably above  the  general  level. 

"When  the  surface  is  finished,  if  it  is  rubbed  on  the  plate  without  color,  the 
bearing  points  will  become  bright,  and  the  observer  will  be  able  to  judge  of  the 
degree  of  accuracy  to  which  it  has  been  brought.  If  it  is  as  nearly  true  as  it  can 
be  made  by  the  hand,  bright  points  will  be  seen  diffused  throughout  its  whole 
extent,  interspersed  with  others  less  luminous,  indicating  thereby  the  degree  of 
force  with  which  they  respectively  bear. 

In  getting  up  a  surface  of  considerable  extent,  it  is  necessary  to  take  into 
account  the  strain  which  the  metal  suffers  from  its  own  weight,  and  the  length 
of  time  required  to  produce  the  full  effect  on  the  external  form.  It  will  be  found, 
for  example,  that  after  a  piece  of  metal  has  remained  for  some  days  in  one  position 
undisturbed,  it  assumes  a  form  different  from  that  which  it  had  while  undergoing 
preparation.  Hence,  it  is  desirable  to  provide  for  the  work,  while  in  hand,  similar 
support  to  what  it  will  have  when  applied  to  its  intended  use. 

Another  disturbing  cause  is  the  unequal  contraction  of  the  metal  in  cooling, 
when  originally  cast.  The  mass  assumes  the  curved  form,  and  is  pervaded  by 
elastic  forces  counteracting  each  other.  These  continue  in  permanent  activity, 
and  any  portion  of  metal,  taken  from  any  part,  tends  to  disturb  the  balance  pre- 
viously established. 

It  remains  to  consider  the  second  case  proposed,  viz.  how  to  prepare  an 
original  surface.  A  brief  description  of  the  proper  method  will  still  further  illus- 
trate the  case  already  considered,  and  will  also  show  how  surface  plates  are  to  be 
corrected. 

Take  three  plates  of  cast  iron,  of  equal  size,  and  proportionate  strength.  The 
metal  should  be  of  a  hard  quality.  The  plates  should  be  well  ribbed  on  the  back 
to  prevent  springing,  and  each  of  them  should  have  three  projecting  points  on 
which  to  rest,  placed  triangularly  in  the  most  favorable  positions  for  bearing. 

75 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


The  object  of  this  provision  is  two-fold, — first,  to  secure  the  bearing  of  three  good 
points,  before  the  plate  Buffers  any  strain  from  its  own  weight ;  and, — secondly,  to 
insure  the  constant  bearing  of  the  same  points.  The  plate  would  otherwise  be 
subject  to  perpetual  variation  of  form,  owing  to  the  irregular  strain  occasioned 
by  change  of  bearing.  A  provision  of  this  kind  is  equally  necessary  while  the 
plate  is  undergoing  the  operation  of  surfacing,  and  when  it  is 
afterwards  used  as  a  model. 

In  fixing  the  plates  on  the  table  of  the  planing  machine, 
care  should  be  taken  to  let  them  bear  on  the  points  before  men- 
tioned, and  to  chuck  them  with  as  little  violence  as  possible  to 
the  natural  form,  otherwise  they  will  spring  on  being  released, 
and  the  labor  of  filing  will  be  increased  in  proportion.  It  is 
proper  also  to  relax  the  chucks  before  taking  the  last  cut. 
With  these  precautions,  if  the  machine  itself  be  accurate,  and 
the  tool  in  proper  condition,  the  operation  of  planing  will 
greatly  facilitate  the  subsequent  processes. 

The  plates  are  next  to  be  tried  by  the  straight  edge,  by  a 
skilful  use  of  which  a  very  small  degree  of  inaccuracy  may  be 
detected. 

Let  one  of  the  three  plates  be  now  selected  as  the  model, 
and  the  others  surfaced  to  it  with  the  aid  of  coloring  mat- 
ter. For  distinctness  they  may  bo  called  Nos.  1,  2,  and  3. 
When  Nos.  2  and  3  have  been  brought  up  to  No.  1,  com- 
pare them  together.  It  is  evident  that  if  No.  1  is  in  any  de- 
gree out  of  truth,  Nos.  2  and  3  will  be  either  both  concave, 
or  both  convex,  and  the  error  will  become  sensible  on  com- 
paring them  together  by  the  intervention  of  color.  To  bring 
them  to  a  true  plane,  equal  quantities  must  be  taken  in  both 
from  corresponding  places.  When  this  has  been  done  with 
all  the  skill  the  mechanic  may  possess,  and  Nos.  2  and  3  are  found  to  agree,  the 
next  step  is  to  get  up  to  No.  1,  both,  applying  it  to  them  in  immediate  succession, 
so  as  to  compare  the  impressions.  The  art  here  lies  in  getting  No.  1  between 
the  two,  which  is  the  probable  direction  of  the  true  plane.  It  is  to  be  presumed 
that  No.  1  is  now  nearer  truth  than  either  of  the  others,  and  it  is  therefore  to  be 
again  taken  as  the  model,  and  the  operation  repeated. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  process  now  described  includes  three  parts,  and 
consists  in  getting  up  the  surfaces  to  one  another  in  the  following  order  : — 

1st.  Nos.  2  and  3  to  No.  1. 

2d.  Nos.  2  and  3  to  each  other. 

3d.  No.  1  to  Nos.  2  and  3. 
These  parts  compose  an  entire  series,  by  repeating  which,  a  gradual  approach  is 
made  towards  absolute  truth, — till  farther  progress  is  prevented  by  inherent  im- 
perfection. 

In  the  earliest  stages,  the  operation  maybe  greatly  expedited  by  judicious  man- 
agement. It  has  been  already  remarked,  but  it  cannot  be  too  often  repeated,  that 
the  general  outline  of  the  surface  should  be  solely  regarded  in  the  first  instance, 
and  the  filling  up  deferred  till  after  general  truth  has  been  secured.  By  this 
method,  the  first  courses  of  the  series  will  be  short,  and  the  progress  made  will  be 
both  more  speedy  and  more  sure,  the  minuter  detail  being  gradually  entered  upon, 
without  the  risk,  otherwise  incurred,  of  losing  previous  labor.  As,  however,  the 
surfaces  approach  perfection,  the  utmost  caution  and  vigilance  will  be  necessary 
to  prevent  them  from  degenerating.  This  will  inevitably  happen,  unless  the 
comparison  be  constantly  made  between  them  all. 

In  the  use  of  the  surface  plate,  care  should  be  taken  to  prevent  unnecessary 
injury,  whether  superficial  or  from  straining.  It  should  also  be  occasionally  sub- 
mitted to  careful  correction.  In  no  other  way  can  a  high  standard  be  steadily 
maintained.  It  will  be  found  convenient  to  set  apart  one  plate  for  the  purpose 
of  correcting  others,  allowing  it  to  remain  entirely  undisturbed.  It  would  other- 
wise be  necessary,  at  every  revision,  to  repeat  the  process  for  obtaining  an  original 
surface,  and  a  considerable  loss  of  time  would  thus  be  occasioned. 

A  mistaken  idea  prevails,  that  scraping  is  a  dilatory  process,  and  this  preju- 
dice may  tend  to  discourage  its  introduction.  It  will  be  found,  however,  to 
involve  the  sacrifice  of  less  time  than  is  now  wasted  on  grinding.  Were  the  fact 
otherwise,  it  would  be  no  argument  against  the  preference  due  to  the  former. 
But  it  is  worthy  of  observation  that,  in  this  instance,  as  in  many  others,  improve- 
ment is  combined  with  economy.  There  is  not  only  an  incalculable  saving  effected 
by  the  improved  surface,  in  its  various  applications,  but  there  is  also  a  positive 
gain  of  time  in  the  preparatory  process. 

The  various  engine-machinery  exhibited  in  the  English  department  by  Messrs. 
Jos.  Whitworth  &  Co.,  of  Manchester,  presents  surfaces  prepared  by  the  process 
of  scraping.  These  surfaces  are  immediately  recognised  by  their  mottled  appear- 
ance, resembling  surfaces  which  have  been  finished  in  the  rose  lathe.  This  process  of 
finishing  the  bearing  surfaces  of  machinery  and  tools,  is  not  entirely  unknown  in 
this  country,  but  is  far  from  being  of  general  adoption,  that  we  have  not 
hesitated  to  call  attention  to  it  by  a  prolonged  explanation  of  the  processes 
which  it  involves. 

T6 


THE  WILD  RICE  OF  MINNESOTA. 

rpHE  wild  rice  of  Minnesota  (Zizania  aquatica,  L.),  the  Pshu  of  the  Sioux, 
-*-  and  Manomin  of  the  Chippewa  Indians,  is  the  most  interesting,  if  not  the 
most  important,  contribution  exhibited  by  this  young  and  flourishing  territory, 


the  New  England  of  the  West.  Like  the  commercial  rice  (Oryza)  it  is  an  aquatic 
grass,  and  probably  an  annual ;  its  smooth,  erect  stem  reaches  a  height  of  from 
four  to  eight  feet  from  the  root,  and  bears  a  racemose  panicle  of  fertile  flowers 
and  fruit,  at  a  distance  of  two  or  three  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  water.  It  is 
widely  distributed  throughout  the  Northern  United  States,  from  the  tide-water 
swamps  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  where  it  is  well  known  as  the  favorite  resort  of  the 
delicious  Ortolan  or  Reed-bird,  to  the  new  territories  of  the  northwest,  in  which 
it  acquires  an  economical  importance  inferior  to  no  other  production  of  spontane- 
ous growth.  It  is  the  only  known  instance  of  a  native  grain  which  spontaneously 
yields  a  supply  of  food  sufficient  for  ordinary  consumption.  As  yet  it  is  gathered 
only  by  the  Indians,  and  constitutes  their  principal  means  of  subsistence  during 
the  greater  portion  of  the  year. 

Along  the  numerous  small  lakes  and  shallow  expansions,  which  form  the  cha- 
racteristic feature  of  all  the  streams  in  Minnesota  and  the  adjoining  territories,  the 
wild  rice  is  particularly  abundant,  and  seems  to  select,  as  its  favorite  habitat,  the 
lower  portions  of  these  shallows,  above  their  narrow  outlet.  It  is  rarely  to  bo 
met  with  on  the  inland  lakes,  which  have  no  opening  to  the  water  courses.  In 
these  situations  it  finds  a  subaqueous  soil  of  muck  and  slimy  sand,  in  which  it  grows 
most  readily,  and  is  exposed  to  the  proper  degree  of  inundation.  In  harvest  time 
the  rice  fields  have  a  considerable  resemblance  to  fields  of  oats.  At  this  season 
they  are  resorted  to  by  innumerable  birds  and  water-fowls,  whose  ravages  oblige  the 
Indians  to  anticipate  the  ripe  crop,  by  tying  up  the  standing  rice  into  bundles.  It 
is  gathered  in  canoes  by  the  Indian  women,  in  the  manner  shown  in  our  engrav- 
ing, which  we  have  copied  from  the  beautiful  drawing  of  Captain  Eastman,  U.  S. 
A.  It  flowers  in  August,  and  is  ripe  in  September  and  October.  The  Indians 
gather  the  wild  rice  both  "  in  the  milk,"  some  eight  or  ten  days  before  it  is  quite 
ripe,  and  also  when  it  has  com§  to  maturity.  After  gathering,  the  grain  is  parched 
in  order  to  separate  the  hulls  more  easily  by  thrashing.  When  prepared  in  this 
way,  it  is  preferred  to  that  which  has  been  allowed  to  ripen  fully  before  harvest- 
ing. The  grain  is  small  and  cylindrical,  about  half  an  inch  in  length,  and  covered 
by  a  very  thin,  dark-colored  pellicle,  which  is  closely  adherent,  and  imparts  its 
dark  color  to  the  rice  when  it  is  served  up.  The  rice  is  made  into  soup,  or  boiled 
to  the  consistence  of  hominy,  and  sometimes  roasted  in  the  grain  and  eaten  dry. 
It  is  more  gelatinous  than  Carolina  rice,  and  according  to  some,  more  nutritious. 
The  missionaries  and  the  voyageurs  who  have  become  accustomed  to  its  use, 
are  said  to  prefer  it  to  the  commercial  rice ;  and  we  are  informed  that  it  is  some- 
time largely  purchased  by  them  in  the  absence  of  other  articles  of  food,  or  as  an 
agreeable  variety.  To  what  extent  the  wild  rice  could  become  a  staple  article 
of  food  and  commerce,  and  how  far  its  quality  and  productiveness  could  be 
enhanced  by  improved  methods  of  culture  and  harvesting,  it  is  not  now 
possible  to  say.  Its  value  in  its  wild  state,  and  the  fact  that  it  grows  best 
in  swampy  and  overflowed  lands,  unfit  for  the  cultivation  of  the  ordinary- 
grains,  point  out  the  propriety  of  making  the  wTild  rice  the  subject  of  careful 
and  repeated  experiments.  We  do  not  doubt  that  it  will  become  an  important 
i  lenient  of  the  natural  wealth  of  that  region,  though  it  may  never  rival  the 
two  staple  bread-plants  which  America  has  given  to  the  world,  the  potato 
and  the  maize. 


THE    NEW -YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


The  statuette  which  commences  this  page  is  the  work  I  An  ideal  female  bust,  named  Prater  by  the  sculptor, 
of  a  Milanese  sculptor,  Gaetaso  Motelll  It  is  called  I  is  the  production  of  Ammo  Gaixl,  of  Milan.  It  is  a 
The  Deserted,  and  seems  to  be  rightly  named. 


work  of  great  truth  and  beauty.  In  the  sweet  expres- 
sion of  its  features,  we  mav  read  the  soul  that  should 


animate  the  marble,  serene  and  pure,  and  full  of  hope.     |      From  a  variety  of  vases,  flower-pots,  and  similar  ar-  |  tides   in  terra  cotta,  exhibited  by  the  manufacturer, 


Edward  Saxlzer,  of  Eisenach,  Saxe  Weimar,  we 
engrave  here  a  Hanging  Basket  and  a  Bracket, 
which  will  correctly  represent  this  branch  of 
German  Art-manufacture. 


The  recumbent  statue  which  concludes  the 
page  is  called  the  Sleeping  St.  John.  It  is  ex- 
hibited by  Luigi  Magi,  of  Florence,  Tuscany. 


THE 


INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


We  engrave  a  Veiled  Bust,  by  GuiSEPrE  Crofk,  of 
Milan.    This  work  cannot  bo  runkcd  higher  than  a  mere 


curiosity  of  art.  We  admire  the  ingenuity  and  practi 
cal  skill  of  the  sculptor,  but  not  his  taste  or  judgment. 


Messrs.  Lindsley,  Powell  &  Co.,  of  Hanlcy  Potteries, 
Staffordshire,  contribute  a  variety  of  articles  in  Parian, 


granite  ware,  <tc,  from  which  we  select  two  Pitch  Kits 
that  exhibit  tasteful  forms  and  decorations,  and  good 
workmanship. 


The  Flower  Stand  on  the  opposite  page,  and  the  one 
on  this,  with  the  two  Jugs  that  accompany  it,  are  exhi- 
bited by  Mr.  Oopeland.  They  are  in  Parian.  We  are 
sorry  to  see  this  exquisite  material,  the  happy  substitute 
for  marble  in  statuettes  and  works  purely  ornamental. 


misapplied  and  degraded  by  being  moulded  into  jugs, 
cups,  candlesticks,  and  all  sorts  of  common  place  arti- 
cles, of  which  so  many  examples  may  be  seen  in  the 
Exhibition.    But  besides  this  general  protest,  we  have 


particular  objections  to  the  nondescript  jug  at  the  top  of 
the  page.  Its  shape  is  singularly  ungraceful,  mid  the 
effigy  which  surmounts  it,  intended  perhaps  for  a  swan, 


though  it  were  hard  to  say  in  what  it  differs  from  a 
goose,  is  a  very  triumph  of  absurdity  and  bad  taste. 
To  make  the  opening  of  a  jug  in  the  body  of  a  water  fowl, 
and  convert  its  wings  into  a  spout,  is  not  a  happy  con- 


ceit. Nor  can  we  admire  a  handle,  formed  of  a  bird's 
neck  half  strangled  in  attempting  to  swallow  a  plant 
which  grows  curiously  out  of  the  side  of  the  jug,  and 
whose  sharp  projecting  leaves  are  a  perpetual  noli-me- 


tanfftre  warning,  to  any  one  who  innocently  suppose* 
that  a  jug's  handle  is  something  by  which  to  lift  it  and 
pour  out  its  contents. 


THE    N  E  W  -  Y  C)  R  K 


EXHIBITION 


ILLUSTRATED. 


The  atatue  of  The  Son  op  Willliam  Tell,  is  exhibited  by  Pasquale 
Romanelli,  of  Florence. 


The  monument  to  the  eminent  physician,  |  Dr.  Co.nolly,  needs  no  explanation. 


The  Pitchers,  <tc,  of  flint  enamel  ware  which  conclude  these 


pages,  are  manufactured  and  exhibited  by  the  United  States  Pottery 


Company,  of  Bennington,  Vt.  They  deserve  great  credit  for 
purity  of  materials  and  excellence  of  manufacture. 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


The  massive  and  magnificent  silver  Centre  Piece, 
which  wc  engrave  upon  this  page,  is  one  of  the  articles 
contributed  to  the  New- York  Exhibition,  bv  Messrs.  R. 
<k  8.  Qabbabd,  the  eminent  jewellers  and  silversmiths, 
of  London. 

The  base  of  this  splendid  piece  of  plate  is  a  hexagon. 


It  is  decorated  in  (he  Moorish  style  of  ornamenta- 
tion. The  figures  represented  are  those  of  Saladin  and 
Sir  Kenneth,  the  Knight  of  the  Couchant  Leopard,  and 
the  scene  is  the  one  so  well  described  by  Sir  Walter 
Scott)  in  the  opening  chapter  of  the  Talisman.  The  Sar- 
acen and  the  Crusader,  after  their  brief  conflict,  have 

80 


concluded  a  truce,  and  have  come  to  refresh  themselves 
together  at  the  fountain,  above  which  rise  two  palm 
trees.  A  column  also  rises  near  it,  such  as  the  Saracens, 
with  pious  care,  were  accustomed  to  build,  to  mark  and 
protect  the  fountains  in  the  desert. 


THE    N  E  W  -  Y  O  K  K  EXHIBITIO 


N  ILLUSTRATED. 


The  silver  Centre  Piece,  which  we  en- 
grave upon  this  page,  is  also  from  theea- 
tablishmentof  M  >ssrs.  Garrard.  It  was 
modelled  by  Edmund  Cotteril,  and  re- 
flects credit  upon  his  artistic  talent  and 
skill.    The  aeeue  is  thai  famous  inter- 


view in  which  the  Duchess  meets  the  renowned 
Don  Quixote  and  his  squire,  with  whose  laugh- 
able knight-errantry  all  Spain  had  become  fa- 
miliar through  the  genius  of  Cervantes.  The 
characteristics  of  the  knight  and  his  Rosinante, 
of  Sancho  and  his  Dapple,  as  they  live  in  the  gra- 


servingof  particular  attention.  A  great  variety  of  tints  are  produced, 
from  the  green  peculiar  to  bronze,  to  the  rich  and  mellow  shades  of 


phie  descriptions  of  Cervantes,  are  faithfully  rendered  in  the  silver. 

The  remainder  of  the  pasre  is  occupied  with  two  Bronze  Vases  and  their  details,  exhibit- 
ed by  Lerolle,  Freues.    We  can  hardly  speak  in  terms  of  too  high  praise  of  the  French 


golden-brown.     The  bronze  alloy  is   usually  made  iu  the  following 


proportions:    copper,  82   parts;  zinc,  18;   pewter,  3;  lead,  1$.  Six 


bronzes,  a  branch  of  art-manufacture  that  has  become  eminently  Parisian.  For  these  beautiful 
works  the  most  celebrated  artists  furnish  the  designs,  and  they  are  executed  l>y  workmen  whose 
taste  and  manipulative  skill  entitle  them  to  the  name  of  artists  also.  The  color  of  the  French 
bronzes,  which  depends  on  peculiar  processes,  both  in  the  first  and  final  operations,  is  de- 
Si 


thousand  workmen  arc  employed  in  Paris  in  the  manufacture  of  bronzes 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


One  of  the  most  effective  works  of  art  exhibited  in  the  Italian  department  of  the 
Exhibition,  is  that  which  we  engrave  upon  this  page — the  Eve  after  tub  Fall.  The 


WHIlNEi-  lOCiLVU 


sculptor,  Pietko  Pagaxi,  of  Milan,  lias  admirably  succeeded  in  representing  the  an- 
guish and  horror  which  filled  the  bosom  of  Eve,  when  the  voice  in  the  garden  pro- 
nounced the  sentence  for  her  fatal  act,  and  revealed  its  inevitable  inheritance  of  ills. 


is  in  the  Norman  style  of  decoration.  The  subjects  are  from  the  life  of  Christ:  The 
Raising  of  Lazarus,  and  of  the  Widow's  Son. 


The  Baptismal  Font,  cut  from  Piototl  stone,  in  the  style  of  the  early  Gothic,  is  the 
chaste  production  of  Felix  Moroan,  of  Quebec. 

The  Stained  Glass  Window,  contributed  by  Mr.  Holland,  of  St  Johns,  Warwick, 


A  Cottage  Piano,  which  is  tastefully  carved,  decorated  with  the  national  flaee 


of  England  and  the  United  States,  is  exhibited  by  the  Earl  op  Carlisle. 


N  E  W  -  Y  0  K  K  CRYSTAL  PALACE  —  I S  T  B  K  I  O  11  VIEW  SO.  I. 


THE    NEW -YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


MOSAICS. 

HERE  are  few  objects  of  art  more  entirely  novel 
to  American  visitors  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  than 
the  Roman   and   Florentine  mosaics — in  the 
Italian    apartment.    This  is  one  of  the  few 
branches  of  art  in  which  modern  skill  and  taste 
have  shown  themselves  equal,  and,  indeed,  su- 
perior to  the  ancient.    The  Florentine  mosaics 
in  hard  stones  are  almost  exclusively  of  modern 
origin.  We  allude  of  course  to  the  employment  of  various  natural 
minerals  cut  and  inlaid  in  a  solid  basis  of  black  or  other  mar- 
ble, in  such  a  manner  as  to  produce  the  eftect  of  a  fine  paint- 
ing.    The  ancients  were  well  skilled  in   a  method   of  their 
own  for  producing  mosaic  pictures  on  walls  and  pavements, 
but  their  mode  of  the  mosaic  art  was,  as  we  shall  presently  show, 
quite  distinct  from  the  modern  pieire  dure,  or  hard  stone  mosaics. 
As  this  art  in  all  its  branches  is  quite  unknown  in  the  United 
States,  we  propose  to  give  some  account  of  it  for  the  informa- 
tion of  the  general  reader. 
Mosaics  are  imitations  of  paintings  and  of  natural  objects,  by  means  of  colored 
stones,  pieces  of  glass,  and  even  of  wood  of  different  colors,  cemented  together 
with  much  art.    The  Italian  musaico  and  the  French  mosaique  originated  from 
the  word  musaicon  of  the  Byzantine   Greeks,  who  reintroduced  the  art  into 
Italy  in  the  13th  century,  after  it  had  been  driven  out  in  the  fifth  century  by  the 
distracted  state  of  the  country  during  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.    Little  is 
known  of  its  early  history.    It  probably  originated  in  the  East,  was  improved  by 
the  Greeks,  and  was  conveyed  to  Italy  during  the  time  of  Sylla,  a  century  before 
the  Christian  Era.    Some  writers  have  amused  themselves  by  tracing  the  origin  of 
this  art  to  Moses,  and  from  him  its  name.    A  more  probable  conjecture  regarding 
the  origin  of  the  name  is  that  which  refers  it  to  the  Greek  word  iiovvetov,  (museum) 
the  original  meaning  of  which  was  a  grotto  consecrated  to  the  Muses.    From  the 
circumstance  that  mosaic  work  was  often  used  for  the  decoration  of  the  interior 
of  grottoes,  the  name  of*  these  rural  retreats  came  to  be  applied  naturally  enough 
to  the  work  itself! 

In  Italy,  and  indeed  in  all  countries  occupied  by  the  ancient  Romans,  many 
pavements  and  floors  ornamented  with  mosaic  work  have  been  discovered.  More 
ancient,  probably,  than  these,  are  the  mosaic  pavements  discovered  in  the  ruins 
of  Carthage.  The  ancient  Roman  mosaic  was  formed  almost  exclusively  out  of 
small  square  bits  of  various  colored  marbles,  serpentines,  porphyries,  and  other 
colored  stones  set  in  a  lime  cement.  These  stones  were  arranged  in  various  regu- 
lar patterns  to  form  fretted  borders — white  and  black  being  frequently  the  sole 
colors — while  the  central  space  was  decorated  either  with  geometrical  figures,  or 
with  copies  of  various  natural  objects.  The  Romans  were,  however,  by  no 
means  confined  to  the  use  of  fragments  of  natural  stones  to  produce  their  mosaics, 
but  they  also  employed  brilliantly  colored  enamels  similar  to  those  in  use  in  the 
mosaics  of  modern  Rome.  Among  the  most  celebrated  of  the  ancient  Roman 
mosaics  which  have  come  down  to  our  times  is  "  Punt's  Doves  "  in  the  Capitol 
Museum  at  Rome.  This  exquisite  work  is  very  perfectly  preserved  and  represents 
four  doves  standing  on  the  lip  of  a  vase  of  water ;  one  is  drinking,  while  the 
others  are  pluming  their  feathers.  A  beautiful  border  surrounds  the  composition, 
which  was  designed  and  used  as  a  pavement  in  one  of  the  apartments  of  a  Roman 
house.  It  was  found  in  Hadrian's  villa  at  Tivoli,  in  1737,  by  Cardinal  Furietti. 
Natural  stones  alone  are  used  in  its  composition,  and  these  are  so  small  that  760 
have  been  counted  in  a  single  square  inch  of  the  surface.  This  is  believed  by 
antiquaries  to  be  the  same  work  of  art  which  so  excited  the  admiration  of  Pliny 
that  he  describes  it  in  his  35th  book.  He  says,  "  There  is  at  Pergamos  a  wonderful 
specimen  in  mosaic  of  a  dove  drinking  and  darkening  the  water  with  the  shadow 
of  her  head,  while  on  the  lip  of  the  vase  others  are  pluming  themselves."  This 
beautiful  antique  is  so  constantly  reproduced  in  modern  copies,  both  in  mosaic  and 
in  sculpture,  that  it  is  probably  familiar  to  all. 

The  excavations  at  Pompeii  have  brought  to  light  numerous  examples  of  an- 
cient Roman  mosaics,  and  some  of  them  are  exquisitely  beautiful,  both  in  execu- 
tion and  design.  Such  is  the  noble  composition  known  as  the  "  Battle  piece," 
found  in  the  house  of  the  Fawn,  and  now  in  the  Museum  at  Naples.  It  contains 
over  twenty  figures  of  mounted  horsemen  in  close  conflict — some  are  fallen  and 
trampled  underfoot,  while  others  are  fiercely  engaged  hand  to  hand  in  deadly 
combat.  The  gay  costumes  of  the  warriors — the  polished  circular  shields  in 
which  are  seen  reflections  of  the  combatants — and  especially  the  ancient  war 
chariot  with  four  horses  abreast,  and  containing  apparently  the  leader  of  the  onset 
with  his  charioteer — all  combine  to  produce  a  most  spirited  picture,  and  to  con- 
vey a  vivid  impression  of  the  arms  and  mode  of  ancient  warfare.  The  figures  in 
this  remarkable  mosaic  are  nearly  of  life  size,  and  the  colors  are  produced  by 
glass  enamels  as  well  as  by  natural  stones. 

The  chained  dog  with  the  inscription  "  Cave  Canem"  (beware  the  dog),  is  a 
most  life-like  and  startling  mosaic  which  formed  the  floor  at  the  entrance  of  the 


house  of  the  Edile,  Glaucus.  Another  well-known  and  beautiful  example  from 
the  same  city,  is  a  casket  of  jewels,  from  the  open  top  of  which  two  doves  are 
drawing  a  necklace  of  pearls.  This  last-named  mosaic  has  been  suffered  to  re- 
main where  it  was  found  in  the  pavement  of  one  of  the  apartments  in  the  so- 
called  house  of  Sallust.  It  is  formed  entirely  of  small  squares  of  various  natural 
stones. 

The  only  representative  of  the  ancient  Roman  mosaic  pavement  found  in 
modern  Italy  is  the  Scagliola,  in  which  irregular  shaped  fragments  of  various  sizes 
of  colored  marble  are  imbedded  in  a  calcareous  cement,  sometimes  in  symmetrical 
patterns,  and  afterwards  polished  down  to  an  even  surface.  Such  are  the  com- 
mon floors  of  modern  Italian  houses— so  well  suited  to  the  climate  and  habits  of 
the  country. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  the  mosaic  pavements  of  the  Romans  were  formed 
by  arranging  the  separate  pieces  in  an  inverted  position  on  a  flat  surface  upon 
which  the  design  had  been  traced  in  outline,  and  then  covering  the  back  or 
underside  of  the  whole  system  of  pieces  with  the  cement  which  was  to  secure 
them  in  place.  Afterward  the  whole  mass  being  turned  over  and  secured  in  its 
destined  position,  a  perfectly  level  surface  could  be  secured  without  the  trouble 
of  grinding  or  polishing  down  the  irregularities  which  would  certainly  exist  if  the 
mosaic  had  been  formed  in  the  position  in  which  it  was  to  remain,  owing  to  tho 
impossibility  of  inserting  such  minute  fragments  in  a  soft  and  yielding  basis  to  a 
perfectly  uniform  level.    This  explanation  is  probably  the  true  one. 

The  Modern  Roman  Mosaics  are  exclusively  of  glass  enamels.  The  prepara- 
tion of  the  pastes  or  colored  glasses  (always  opaque),  forms  a  separate  branch  of 
industry ;  they  are  made  of  very  fusible  materials,  colored  by  oxyds  of  metals  and 
tempered  to  every  possible  shade  of  color.  It  is  said  that  the  magazines  of  the 
papal  manufactory  of  mosaics  in  the  Vatican,  embrace  not  less  than  10,000 
shades  of  the  various  colors.  These  enamels  are  drawn  into  rods  or  sticks  like 
sealing-wax,  of  various  sizes,  according  to  the  work  to  be  done,  and  are  skilfully 
arranged  in  a  series  of  compartments  to  facilitate  the  artist  in  the  rapid  prosecu- 
tion of  his  work.  From  the  ends  of  these  colored  rods,  bits  are  broken  oft'  by 
the  artist,  who  then  sticks  them  upon  a  bed  of  soft  cement,  formed  of  quicklime, 
pulverized  limestone  and  linseed  oil.  This  cement  is  evenly  spread  upon  a  sur- 
face of  metal  or  a  slab  of  stone,  and  upon  it  is  traced  an  outline  of  the  picture  or 
work  to  be  copied.  Following  this  tracing,  and  with  the  original  pictures  placed 
on  an  easel  beside  him,  the  artist  proceeds  in  the  most  laborious  and  patient 
manner  to  select  and  arrange  the  shades  of  color  necessary  to  form  a  perfect 
copy  of  the  work.  These  tints  must  not  only  be  skilfully  selected  for  color,  but 
the  individual  bits  must  also  be  made  to  fit  each  other,  leaving  no  spaces  between 
themselves.  For  this  purpose  he  has  frequent  recourse  to  the  blow-pipe  lamp,  in 
whose  flame  the  enamel  easily  melts,  and  may  be  drawn  out  to  the  required 
size  and  form.  When  the  whole  surface  has  been  thus  covered,  some  weeks  or 
months  are  required  for  the  cement  to  become  hard  and  firm  enough  to  withstand 
the  last  process.  This  consists  in  grinding  down  by  emery  powder  the  uneven 
surface  of  the  mosaic,  until  a  perfect  level  and  a  beautiful  polish  are  produced.  It 
is  only  after  this  last  step  that  the  beauty  of  the  design  and  the  perfection  of  the 
work  can  be  judged  of.  Before  polishing,  the  surface  presents  only  a  dull,  rough 
appearance — seemingly  a  very  imperfect  copy  of  the  original.  The  time  consumed 
in  producing  by  this  method  copies  of  large  pictures  is  very  great.  For  example, 
the  transfiguration  by  Raphael,  copied  in  mosaic  for  the  decoration  of  St.  Peter's 
(a  mosaic  probably  30  feet  high),  occupied  several  men  over  twenty  years.  When 
once,  however,  a  grand  work  is  produced  in  mosaic,  it  is  as  nearly  immortal  as  it 
is  possible  for  man  to  make  any  thing.  The  materials  employed  are  liable  to  no 
change  from  the  causes  which  render  oil  paintings  and  even  frescoes  so  destructi- 
ble. Undiminished  in  the  brilliancy  of  its  colors  and  untarnished  by  time,  it  goes 
down  to  posterity  exactly  as  it  came  from  the  hands  of  the  artist.  Fire  may  de- 
face and  violence  may  destroy  it,  but  from  all  other  causes  of  decay  and  injury  it 
is  exempt.  We  well  remember  the  feeling  of  amazement  with  which  we  gazed 
for  the  first  time  on  the  mosaics  of  St.  Peter's  and  of  St.  Mark's  at  Venice.  It  is 
only  by  close  inspection  that  the  observer  detects  that  the  beautiful  copies  with 
which  St.  Peter's  is  lined  are  not  either  oil  paintings  or  frescoes,  so  perfectly  are 
the  forms  and  tints  of  the  originals  reproduced  in  so  unmanageable  a  material  as 
glass  enamel. 

For  works  to  be  seen  close  at  hand  as  in  tables,  brooches,  and  small 
copies  of  works  of  art,  the  size  of  the  individual  pieces  composing  the  mo- 
saic is  very  small,  so  that  the  several  parts  can  be  detected  only  by  a  close 
inspection.  On  the  other  hand,  for  works  to  bo  placed  in  the  domes  of  churches 
or  on  lofty  side-walls,  the  pieces  employed  are  of  considerable  size.  The  dome  of 
St.  Peter's  for  example,  is  entirely  lined  with  gold  mosaic,  in  which  are  set  mosaic 
medallions  of  cherubs,  angels,  and  other  appropriate  figures.  From  below,  at  the  dis- 
tance of  400  feet,  these  have  all  the  softness  of  paintings,  but  the  observer  is 
astonished  on  coming  close  to  them  to  find  the  pieces  of  enamel  so  large  that  not 
more  than  four  are  required  for  a  square  inch  of  surface.  The  size  of  the  mosaic 
pieces  selected  for  a  given  work  must  be  the  same  for  the  whole  surface,  any 
material  change  in  this  particular  in  the  different  parts  of  the  same  picture  being 
productive  of  bad  effects  on  the  harmony  and  beauty  of  the  whole.    The  gold 

83 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


mosaic  surfaces  are  of  a  very  ancient  origin,  and  were  largely  employed  by  artists 
of  the  Byzantine  period  in  imitation  of  the  then  prevalent  taste  of  painting  in 
oil  upon  a  gilt  background.  The  effect  when  seen  in  such  masses  as  we  find  in 
the  domes  of  St.  Mark's  and  of  St.  Peter's  is  very  gorgeous,  and  speaks  of  its 
oriental  origin.  The  gold  mosaic  is  produced  by  employing  any  convenient 
enamel  for  a  basis  over  which  the  gold  is  spread  in  a  thin  and  perfectly  even 
film,  by  means  of  some  adhesive  size  or  varnish.  It  is  saved  from  destruction  by 
time,  and  the  brilliancy  of  its  effect  heightened  by  a  covering  of  very  thin  and 
transparent  glass,  which  being  pressed  upon  the  soft  surface  at  the  gold  size 
adheres  perfectly.  Thus  the  gold  surface  is  plated  or  veneered  by  the  thin 
glass. 

The  art  required  to  produce  good  mosaic  pictures  in  the  Koman  method  is  far 
from  being  mechanical  in  its  character.  It  certainly  requires  more  skill  to  excel 
in  this  branch  of  art  than  to  produce  good  copies  in  oil,  and  probably  quite  as  much 
as  to  execute  a  fine  engraving.  Cav.  Luigi  Moglia  is  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
mosaicists  in  Rome,  and  his  well-known  work  representing  the  temples  of 
Paestuui  on  a  scale  of  seven  feet,  is  not  surpassed  by  any  mosaic  of  modern 
times. 

The  works  in  Roman  mosaic  in  the  New-York  Exhibition,  are  a  head  of  St. 
John,  from  Guerchino,  by  the  artists  of  the  Papal  manufactory  in  the  Vatican, 
his  Holiness  Pio  Nino  being  the  exhibitor;  a  copy  of  "  Pliny's  Doves"  in  the 
adjoining  court,  in  a  circular  table  by  Francesco  Betti,  of  Rome ;  and  a  large 
pavement  slab  of  coarser  work  by  Idoardo  Prebbi,  of  Rome,  representing  fish 
and  dead  game  in  a  rich  border.  The  head  of  St.  John  is  much  the  most  signal 
of  these  works.  It  is  of  the  same  sized  mosaic  pieces  as  those  composing  the 
famed  copies  of  St.  Peter's  before  mentioned,  and  to  see  it  well  the  observer  should 
stand  upon  the  opposite  side  of  the  nave.  The  work  was  never  designed  to  be 
seen  so  near  as  it  may  be  approached  in  its  present  position.  There  is  a  fine 
geometrical  table  in  the  Austrian  department  by  J.  Giracomenzzi,  of  Venice, 
which  may  be  named  in  this  connection  since  it  is  formed  entirely  of  enamels,  al- 
though these  are  joined  in  the  Florentine  manner.  It  is  a  copy  of  a  well-known 
pavement  in  the  church  of  St.  Mark's  of  Venice.  In  this  work  may  be  seen  fine 
miens  of  the  celebrated  goldstone  or  aventurine  glass,  for  which  Venice  has 
long  been  celebrated. 

It  has  been  proposed  to  multiply  copies  of  the  Roman  mosaics  by  employing 
the  enamel  rods  of  such  length,  or  depth,  that  successive  sections  could  be  cut  from 
the  surface,  each  section  being  cemented  to  a  separate  basis,  as  several  thin  slices 
of  valuable  stones  are  cut  from  one  slab. 

The  Florentine  Mosaic. — The  present  Exhibition  embraces  several  very 
beautiful  examples  of  the  hard  stone  mosaics,  for  which  the  Florentine  artists  are 
so  celebrated.  "We  name  particularly  a  beautiful  oblong  table  four  feet  by  two  inches 
by  Sr.  Francesco  Betti,  Florence.  An  engraving  of  this  design  is  given  in  the 
Recobd,  but  without  the  lively  colors  and  brilliant  polish  of  the  original — want- 
ing which,  the  engraving  gives  but  a  feeble  idea  of  the  beauty  of  the  original. 
Numerous  other  works  in  the  same  style  will  be  observed  in  the  Italian  gallery, 
of  which  we  name  particularly  eight  tables  of  various  forms  by  Enrico  Bossi,  and 
five  by  Gaetano  Bianchini,  both  of  Florence,  the  workmanship  of  which  will 
bear  the  closest  examination  both  for  taste  and  skill. 

In  the  French  department  are  two  tables  by  Faqueson  Cie,  formed  of  small 
squares  of  various  colored  marbles  arranged  in  Saracenic  patterns  after  the  style 
of  the  ancient  Roman  mosaic. 

We  should  also  be  very  remiss  if,  in  speaking  of  this  subject,  we  failed  to  advert 
to  the  abundant  display  of  hard  stone  mosaic  in  the  English  department  of  the 
Exhibition.  John  Tomlinson,  of  Ashford,  near  Bakewell,  Derbyshire,  and  John 
Valance,  of  Matlock  Bath,  Derbyshire,  have  both  a  number  of  black  tables  inlaid 
in  the  Florentine  manner  with  various  ornamental  stones.  Beautiful  as  those 
works  are,  however,  it  is  plain  that  there  is  in  them  all  a  decided  inferiority  both 
in  taste  and  workmanship  to  the  Italian. 

The  Florentine  mosaics,  as  before  remarked,  are  formed  exclusively  of  various 
hard  minerals,  which  are  cut  in  thin  slices,  and  the  colors  so  selected  as  to  produce 
the  effects  sought  by  the  artist.  To  do  this,  it  is  necessary  to  have  a  very  extensive 
stock  of  specimens  of  various  minerals  sliced  to  the  proper  thickness,  from  which 
the  selection  is  made.  The  selected  pieces  are  then  to  be  cut  for  the  outline  with 
the  greatest  accuracy,  so  that  the  joinings  will  be  invisible.  And,  lastly,  the  several 
pieces  forming  the  design,  are  to  be  inlaid  in  the  body  of  the  slab  which  forms  the 
basis  of  the  whole.  The  chief  establishment  for  the  production  of  this  description 
of  mosaic  work,  belongs  to  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany.  It  requires  regal  wealth 
to  enable  the  artist  to  devote  years  of  time  to  the  completion  of  these  exquisite 
objects  which  form  the  material  of  princely  gifts.  There  are,  however,  numerous 
private  establishments  in  Florence  which  produce  good  Florentine  mosaics,  of 
whose  skill  the  specimens  already  named  are  examples. 

The  usual  basis  in  which  the  Florentine  mosaic  is  inlaid,  is  a  beautiful  jet  black 
marble — although  white  and  various  other  colors  are  occasionally  employed.  This 
basis  is  not  of  great  thickness — since  the  labor  and  difficulty  of  perforating  its  sur- 
face for  the  insertion  of  the  mosaic  pieces,  is  much  diminished  by  its  being  moder- 
ately thin.    The  requisite  strength  is  afterwards  obtained  by  backing  it  with  metal 

84 


or  stone  cemented  on.  The  means  employed  for  cutting  the  intricate  openings  in 
the  basis,  to  receive  the  mosaic  patterns,  are  as  wonderful  for  their  simplicity  as  the 
result  is  admirable  for  its  beauty.  A  thin  soft  iron  wire  is  stretched  like  a  bow- 
string, and  being  armed  with  emery  and  water,  the  artist  sets  himself  patiently  to 
saw  with  this  simple  but  most  efficient  instrument.  He  follows  with  perfect  cer- 
tainty the  most  tortuous  and  intricate  lines,  and  with  a  degree  of  rapidity  which 
is  remarkable,  if  we  remember  the  nature  of  the  material  to  be  cut.  A  drill  fur- 
nishes the  means  of  obtaining  the  first  perforation,  and  the  same  instrument  is  the 
only  other  aid  the  artist  requires  in  his  work,  as  when,  for  example,  hemispher- 
ical cavities  are  to  be  formed  for  the  reception  of  transparent  amethysts,  if  a  bunch 
of  grapes  is  to  be  produced.  A  beautiful  example  of  this  fruit  in  Florentine 
mosaic,  is  to  be  seen  in  the  Exhibition  in  the  first  specimen  cited  above. 

Far  more  laborious  and  artistic  is  the  other  portion  of  the  task  in  this  art.  To 
select  and  adapt  the  various  hard  stones,  whose  lively  and  natural  colors  are  to 
reproduce  in  life-like  beauty — the  olive  branch,  the  forget-me-not,  the  crimson 
cherry,  half  hid  in  its  green  leaves — the  gay  and  fluttering  bird,  or  whatever  other 
object  of  nature  it  may  be  proposed  to  copy.  To  secure  success  in  this  part  of  the 
art,  all  the  hidden  treasures  of  the  mineral  kingdom  have  been  searched  and  brought 
to  light.  It  is  here  worthy  of  remark,  that  Nature  with  her  customary  simplicity 
in  complexity,  has  placed  at  the  artist's  disposal  a  single  mineral  species,  whose 
varieties  in  color,  transparency,  and  purity,  have  furnished  the  Florentine  artist 
nearly  every  thing  he  could  ask.  This  protean  mineral  is  quartz,  or  silica,  whose 
varied  names  exceed  the  loftiest  reach  of  Spanish  patronymics.  The  varied  tints 
of  the  agate,  the  bloody  carnelian,  the  purple  amethyst,  the  liquid  sea-green  chryso- 
prase — the  various  tints  of  opaque  prase,  from  the  light  foliage  of  the  olive  to  the 
deep  green  of  the  ivy — the  banded  onyx,  the  chalcedony  transparent  and  seeming- 
ly tremulous  as  jell}-,  or  opaque,  and  spotless  as  milk — jaspers,  opaque  and  of  every 
hue,  of  a  single  tint,  or  banded,  and  imitative  like  the  Egyptian  pebble — the  gold-  1 
spangled  aventurine,  and  many  other  varieties  of  the  same  parent  stock  go  far  to 
furnish  the  magazines  of  the  Grand  Duke,  from  which  are  drawn  the  soft  or  rain- 
bow hues  whose  grouping  produces  so  charming  a  result.  Add  to  the  family  just 
named,  the  soft  blue  of  the  turquoise,  the  inimitable  tint  of  the  lapis-lazuli,  the 
rich  green  of  the  malachite  with  its  exquisite  bands  of  concentric  layers — theverd- 
antique  porphyry,  and  all  the  nameless  tribe  of  porphyries  and  marbles,  and  for  rarer 
and  more  costly  works,  the  emerald,  the  garnet,  the  sapphire,  the  topaz,  the  peridot, 
and  even  the  diamond,  and  we  have  some  notion  both  of  the  resources  and  the 
difficulties  of  the  Florentine  mosaic.  The  cutting  of  the  hardest  of  these  minerals 
into  thin  slabs,  is  accomplished  by  the  lapidaries'  wheel,  armed  with  diamond  dust, 
while  to  shape  the  selected  pieces  to  fit  the  adjoining  parts,  requires  the  bowstring 
of  wire  armed  also  with  the  powdered  diamond. 

It  is  only  in  Italy  that  the  highest  triumphs  of  this  art  can  be  seen.  In  the 
Pitti  Palace,  and  in  the  Chapel  of  the  Medici,  as  well  as  in  the  private  chapels 
of  some  of  the  wealthy  families,  are  found  tables  and  tablets  in  Florence  mosaic, 
whose  value  is  untold.  Such  very  elaborate  and  costly  products  of  artistic  skill, 
are  certainly  not  to  be  looked  for  in  a  youthful  country  like  our  own,  even  if  they 
were  to  be  desired.  It  is  not,  however,  the  less  instructive  or  delightful,  that  we 
have  now,  for  the  first  time  in  America,  the  opportunity  of  refreshing  our  eyes  by 
looking  upon  some  examples  of  "this  beautiful  art,  and  we  rejoice  that  there  is 
that  in  every  human  soul  which  answers  to  the  sentiment  of  beauty  however  it 
may  be  expressed. 


THE  CHROMATIC  DECORATION  OF  THE  CRYSTAL  PALACE. 

IT  is  not  our  intention  in  the  present  article  to  add  to  the  numerous  treatises  on 
Decoration,  which  subject  has  been  already  most  thoroughly  investigated  by 
very  able  writers ;  but  in  noticing  that  of  our  Crystal  Palace,  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  fact,  that  this  style  which  is  usually  left  to  the  experience  of  the 
house-painter,  or  the  fancy  of  the  proprietor,  is  subject  to  fixed  natural  laws,  and 
may  be  so  carried  out  in  its  execution  as  to  constitute  a  work  of  art. 

This  stylo  may  most  properly  bo  termed  Chromatic,  or  a  decoration  arising  from 
the  harmony  of  the  colors  used  in  painting  the  building.  The  German  terms 
?)!<mo-ehromatic  and  //o/jy-chromatic  seem  not  only  unnecessary  but  incorrect.  As 
no  single  sound  has  an  independent  beauty,  and  receives  one  only  when  combined 
witli  or  opposed  to  another;  in  the  same  way,  no  single  color  has  a  beauty  per  se, 
and  affects  the  eye  as  beautiful,  only  when  harmonizing  or  contrasting  with  ano- 
ther. In  decorations  effected  by  one  color  varied  only  by  light  and  shade,  the 
pleasure  which  the  eye  receives  is  from  a  perception  of  the  harmony  or  grace  of 
forms  indicated.  Thus,  what  has  been  termed  mono-chromatic  is  a  decoration 
purely  of  design,  in  which  color  plays  no  part. 

Most  of  the  works  on  decoration  with  which  we  are  cognizant,  treat  the 
subject  as  one  of  mere  design,  or,  of  design  enriched  with  color.  The  Italian 
style,  known  as  the  Arabesque,  consists  of  fanciful  combinations  of  animal  forms 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


with  fruit,  flowers.-  foliage,  shells,  architecture,  <fec.,  sometimes  as  mere  borders  to 
embellish  a  painting,  and  often  filling  the  entire  space  to  be  decorated.  In  these 
designs  the  objects  are  sometimes  represented  in  their  natural  colors,  producing  a 
chromatic  effect,  sometimes  only  in  chiaro-oscuro,  in  which  case,  as  before  hinted, 
the  decoration  is  one  of  design  only. 

The  Moorish  system,  of  which  the  Alhambra  furnishes  a  familiar  example,  is 
(strictly  speaking)  neither  chromatic  nor  one  of  design,  according  to  the  usual  accep- 
tation of  the  word  which  implies  the  imitation  of  natural  forms.  The  colors  al- 
most invariably  employed  are  pure  blue,  red  and  yellow,  or  gold  as  a  substitute  for 
the  latter  color.  From  their  simplicity  they  are  incapable  of  forming  of  them- 
selves other  than  the  most  ordinary  melody,  exceedingly  monotonous  and  tiresome 
to  the  eye.  They  are  distributed,  however,  within  certain  ingeniously  varied  lines 
and  patterns,  and  the  decoration  resulting  is  one  of  purely  geometrical  forms,  at- 
tracting the  eye  by  the  difference  of  their  colors.  The  essential  feature  of  this 
style,  then,  consists  in  the  exquisitely  varied  and  harmonious  tracery  which 
breaks  up  the  surfaces.  Mr.  Owen  Jones'  decoration  of  the  London  Crystal  Palace 
exhibits  the  results  of  employing  the  primitive  colors,  and  omitting  the  geometri- 
cal harmony  of  the  Moorish  style. 

The  employment  of  color  alone  as  a  means  of  giving  additional  beauty  to  ar- 
chitecture, is  a  subject  of  greater  importance  than  is  usually  conceded  to  it.  Many 
of  the  materials  used  in  building  are  perishable  in  their  nature,  and  require  a  coat- 
ing of  some  kind  of  paint  for  the  mere  purpose  of  preservation ;  but,  to  clothe 
discordant  materials  with  a  harmonious  arrangement  of  color,  so  as  to  form  a 
pleasing  whole,  is  of  far  greater  importance  to  the  artistic  effect  of  the  work,  and 
requires  a  knowledge  of  the  resources  of  color  not  inferior  to  those  of  form  by 
which  the  architect  is  guided  in  his  compositions. 

If  we  reflect  on  the  immense  use  which  Nature  has  made  of  color  as  an  in- 
strument for  beautifying  her  choicest  forms,  and  imagine  what  we  should  lose  if 
they  were  clothed  in  a  negative  tint,  we  may  form  an  idea  of  the  value  of  color  as 
a  means  of  giving  beauty.  If  we  carry  the  imagination  farther,  and  conceive 
the  natural  order  of  colors  reversed,  we  feel  at  once  the  importance  of  using 
them  in  works  of  art  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  nature. 

The  theory  of  colors  is  of  a  very  recent  development,  and  a  knowledge  of  the 
laws  deduced,  is  confined  to  very  few  even  of  those  who  require  it  in  the  exercise 
of  their  professions.  It  is  rarely  that  we  find  practitioners  even  in  the  higher 
branches  of  painting,  who  are  guided  in  their  compositions  by  any  other  principle 
than  those  suggested  by  individual  taste,  and  a  cultivated  eye.  It  is  a  question 
worthy  of  consideration,  how  far  the  mediocrity  of  painting  of  the  present  day  is 
attributable  to  an  overweening  reliance  on  natural  powers,  and  a  neglect  of  the 
lights  of  science.  In  the  sister  art  of  music,  we  continually  see  that  those  who 
refcse  instruction  in  the  theory  of  the  art  rarely  attain  to  any  excellence,  while 
those  who  study  profoundly,  advance  steadily,  in  proportion  to  tiieir  natural  en- 
dowments. We  are  thoroughly  convinced  that  much  genius  is  now  wasted  in  the 
acquirement  of  rudimentary  knowledge  in  the  slow  school  of  practical  experiment, 
and  that  the  excellence  of  the  Greek  school  of  design  arose  from  a  thoroughly 
digested  canon  of  form,  and  the  use  of  geometrical  formulas  which  make  the 
coinjiositions  of  second  and  third  rate  artists  of  that  period  the  wonder  and  ad- 
miration of  the  present  day. 

Within  the  last  twenty  or  thirty  years  has  appeared  a  series  of  works  on  color, 
among  which  that  by  Mr.  D.  R.  Hay,  of  Edinburgh,  "On  the  Harmony  of  Colors" 
is  a  very  remarkable  essay,  not  only  for  its  lucid  and  practical  exposition  of  the 
laws  of  color,  but  for  the  many  scientific  and  artistic  truths  presented.  This 
writer  proves  very  conclusively  that  the  seven  colors  of  Sir  Isaac  Xewton  are  re- 
ducible to  three  primitive  ones.  blue,  red  and  yellow :  that  they  form,  in  binary  com- 
bination, the  seven  prismatic  tints  corresponding  to  the  seven  notes  of  the  gamut 
or  musical  scale ;  and  that  a  variation  in  the  admixture  and  arrangement  of  them, 
according  to  the  same  numerical  laws  as  those  which  regulate  harmony  and  melody 
in  music,  produces  an  infinity  of  compositions  of  color,  which  afford  an  exquisite  plea- 
sure to  the  eye  analogous  in  character  and  equal  in  variety  to  that  which  music 
has  for  the  ear.  That  a  strong  analogy  between  these  arts  has  for  a  long  time 
been  felt  to  exist,  is  evident  from  our  employment  of  the  same  terms  to  express 
similar  effects  in  music  and  color ;  but  Mr.  Hay,  we  believe,  is  the  first  one  who 
has  demonstrated  that  the  laws  governing  these  two  arts  are  identically  the 
same. 

There  are  some  facts  connected  with  this  analogy  as  instructive  as  they  are  curi- 
ous. They  are  both  non-demonstratire  arts.  Neither  affirming  nor  proving  any  thing, 
they  each  illustrate,  amplify  and  heighten  the  force  of  every  expression  of  truth. 
Sister  arts,  they  are  in  themselves  not  generative  of  ideas,  but  require  union  with 
a  creative  art  for  a  full  development  of  their  powers.  Thus  color  joined  to  design 
rivals  music  "  married  to  immortal  verse."  Divorced,  they  are  to  be  appreciated 
only  by  minds  sufficiently  cultivated  to  supply  the  absence  of  the  conjugal  art. 
To  such,  music  is  most  attractive  when  purely  instrumental ;  they  prefer- 
ring to  supply  the  thought  or  sentiment.  On  the  other  hand,  with  many  the 
love  of  color  is  so  predominant  that  a  third-rate  specimen  of  the  Venetian 
school  has  charms  beyond  the  most  exquisite  designs  of  the  Florentines  or  Ro- 
mans.  The  former  artists,  if  inferior  in  design,  are  pre-eminent  as  painters.  Color 


in  their  hands  has  all  the  expression  of  language  in  poetry.  Their  works  may 
safely  be  referred  to  as  canons  of  color,  and  exhibit  a  proof  of  the  infinity  of 
variety,  of  which  the  tones  and  combinations  of  coloring  are  capable.  Many  of 
them  have  so  little  merit  on  the  score  of  design  or  expression  of  thought,  as  to 
suggest  the  question  whether  they  are  not  mere  instances  of  the  instrumental 
music  of  color,  and,  whether  a  similar  arrangement,  pleasing  to  the  eye  solely  on 
account  of  its  harmony,  its  variety  and  due  proportion  between  the  quantities  of 
quiet  and  brilliant  colors  employed,  if  judiciously  applied  to  a  building,  may  not 
constitute  an  instance  of  color  handled  as  an  art. 

The  fact  that  coloring  matter  in  natural  objects  corresponds  to  organization, 
and  always  indicates  a  function,  has  been  used  as  an  argument  to  prove  that  the 
employment  of  color  without  regard  to  function,  is  contrary  to  the  laws  of  na- 
ture, and  therefore  inadmissible  in  art.  This  argument  derives  its  plausibility 
from  ignoring  the  distinction  between  nature  and  art !  It  is  not  only  the  prero- 
gative, but  sole  resource  and  province  of  art  to  enter  the  fields  of  nature,  and 
seizing  upon  any  of  her  laws  to  apply  them  to  her  own  creations.  While  nature 
deals  with  life,  art  operating  on  dead  matter  is  forced,  like  Prometheus,  to  steal 
fire  from  heaven  with  which  to  animate  her  works.  Hence  the  variety  of  forms 
which  art  is  capable  of  assuming  is  limited  only  by  the  infinity  of  nature's  prin- 
ciples. 

A  decoration  arising  chiefly  from  the  harmony  and  variety  of  colors  introduced, 
is  the  style  attempted,  in  a  simple  key,  in  our  Crystal  Palace,  to  which  we  refer  by 
no  means  as  evidence  of  the  extent  to  which  it  may  be  carried,  but  merely  as  a 
commencement  in  that  direction.  The  shortness  of  time  allowed  for  decoration, 
the  difficulty  of  obtaining  a  large  number  of  experienced  workmen  at  short  notice, 
and  the  ephemeral  character  of  the  building,  all  pointed  to  a  broad  and  bold  treat- 
ment of  the  subject,  not  only  as  niost  feasible,  but  most  conducive  to  the  purposes 
of  the  Exhibition.  It  seemed  desirable  to  furnish  a  modest  and  appropriate  back- 
ground to  the  articles  exhibited,  rather  than  to  make  the  building  the  chief  object 
of  interest. 

The  following  rules,  many  of  them  applicable  to  the  most  complicated,  as  well 
as  the  simplest  systems,  have  been  mainly  adhered  to  in  the  design  of  the  deco- 
ration of  the  interior  : — 

I.  Decoration  should  in  all  cases  be  subordinate  to  construction.  It  may  be 
employed  to  heighten  or  give  additional  value  to  architectural  beauties,  but  should 
never  counterfeit  them.  Being  in  the  nature  of  an  accompaniment,  it  should 
keep  in  modest  accordance  with  the  air,  and  not  drown  it  with  impertinent  em- 
bellishment. Coloring,  to  be  employed  with  good  effect  on  a  building,  should 
resemble  the  drapery  of  the  antique  sculptures,  which,  displaying  between 
its  folds  the  forms  beneath,  serves  rather  to  enhance  than  to  conceal  their 
beauty. 

II.  All  features  of  main  construction  should  have  one  prevailing  tint,  enriched 
occasionally  by  the  harmonious  contrasts  of  that  color.  All  secondary,  or  auxil- 
iary construction,  may  be  decorated  by  the  employment  of  a  richer  variety  of  the 
principal  color.  This  mode  of  treatment  is  suggested  by  the  distinction  which 
nature  has  made  between  the  coloring  of  the  trunk,  branches,  twigs  and  leaves  of 
trees. 

III.  The  prevailing  color  of  the  ceilings  should  be  sky-blue,  thus  borrowing 
from  nature  the  covering  which  she  has  placed  over  our  heads.  Monotony  may 
be  prevented  by  the  introduction  of  orange  (the  natural  complement  of  blue), 
garnet  and  vermilion,  in  such  quantities  only  as  may  be  necessary  to  recall  these 
colors  employed  elsewhere. 

TV.  Rich  and  brilliant  tints  should  occur  in  small  quantities,  and  be  employed 
to  attract  the  eye  to  the  articulations  and  noble  portions  of  the  members,  rather 
than  to  the  members  themselves.  As  in  the  human  figure,  variety  of  color  and 
form  is  most  displayed  in  the  extremities  and  joints,  to  which  th^.broader  style  of 
the  limbs  and  trunk  serve  as  a  foil,  so  in  buildings,  the  bases  and  capitals  of 
columns,  brackets  of  arches,  and  the  framework  of  panels,  would  seem  legitimate 
objects  for  the  reception  of  rich  coloring.  Occurring  at  fixed  numerical  distances, 
they  are  measured  out  in  equal  proportions  as  to  space,  and  afford  also  a  dne 
quantity  of  brilliant  and  stimulating  tints — sufficient  to  enliven  the  large  propor- 
tion of  mild  color  so  essential  to  a  general  effect  of  quiet  and  repose. 

Y.  All  natural  beauty  of  color  existing  in  any  material,  should,  if  possible,  be 
brought  into  play,  by  using  that  color  itself,  instead  of  covering  it  with  paint  of 
another  hue. 

YI.  The  leading  feature  of  beauty  in  the  Crystal  Palace,  being  that  of  propor 
tion  and  geometrical  harmony,  rather  than  elaboration  of  detail,  all  ornament  in- 
troduced should  be  of  the  same  character,  mere  geometrical  outlines  and  forms  to 
the  exclusion  of  classical  decoration,  the  characteristic  of  which  is  an  imitation  of 
the  organization  of  foliage. 

VII.  White  should  be  used  in  large  quantities  in  all  cases  of  simple  compo- 
sitions, not  only  to  give  value,  by  contrast,  to  the  few  colors  employed,  but  to 
reflect  light  and  cheerfulness  to  the  work. 

An  adherence  tc  these  rules  has  produced  a  style  of  decoration  pleasing  from  its 
novelty  and  from  the  harmony  arising  from  the  use  of  color  in  accordance  with 
the  laws  of  science  and  the  practice  of  the  best  masters.    It  presents  to  the  eye  a 

85 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


harmony  composed  in  the  key  of  orange  and  blue,  varied  l>y  the  introduction  of 
inoro  brilliant  and  compound  tints  in  small  quantities.  This  combination  was 
selected  as  being  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  interior.  Sky-blue,  which  is  confined 
principally  to  the  dome  and  ceilings,  serves  to  give  an  appearance  of  loftiness  and 
airiness;  while  its  complement,  diluted  orange  or  cream  color,  not  only  balances 
the  blue  harmoniously,  but  throws  a  cheerful  tint  of  sunshine  over  the  whole  of 
the  interior.  It  has  the  further  merit  of  being  of  a  subdued  hue  seldom  occur- 
ring in  manufactured  articles,  and  therefore  serving  as  an  excellent  background  to 
the  mass  of  objects  exhibited. 

The  power  of  blue  to  give  an  effect  of  loftiness  to  the  building  was  strongly 
exemplified  during  the  progress  of  the  painting,  by  comparing  one  of  the  naves 
which  had  been  decorated  with  another  which  remained  unfinished.  The 
former  seemed  more  than  double  the  height  of  the  latter,  although  they  are  all 
of  the  same  dimensions.  It  was  equally  interesting  to  observe,  that  the  intro- 
duction of  a  variety  of  colors,  into  large  spaces,  has  the  effect  of  magnifying  the 
apparent  dimensions  to  a  wonderful  degree.  Space  and  grandeur  are  elements 
of  so  much  importance  in  architecture,  that  we  cannot  afford  their  loss.  If  a 
building  of  great  dimensions  appear  small,  it  is  to  be  attributed,  not  to  its  fine  pro- 
portions, as  is  sometimes  alleged,  but  to  a  neglect  of  its  projector  to  avail  himself 
of  one  of  the  most  effective  instruments  of  his  art. 

In  accordance  with  the  general  character  of  the  building,  no  ornament  of  clas- 
sical forms  has  been  introduced.  The  only  attempt  to  decorate  by  means  of 
design,  has  been  in  the  use  of  mere  geometrical  lines  and  figures  of  a  very  simple 
character,  which  have  been  executed  by  common  workmen,  assisted  only  by  the 
use  of  6tencil  patterns.  The  ceilings  of  the  four  lean-tos  are  all  different, 
those  of  the  galleries  are  of  a  fifth  pattern,  and  the  four  naves  have  still  another 
design  in  common.  Thus  the  lean-tos,  which  can  only  be  viewed  separately  on 
account  of  their  remoteness,  offer  a  variety  among  themselves  ;  but  to  the  spectator 
looking  upward,  a  perfect  uniformity  in  the  galleries  and  naves  is  presented,  above 
which  rises  the  dome,  still  varied  in  design  but  harmonizing  with  the  rest.  This 
portion  of  the  decorations,  which  is  of  the  florid  Moorish  character,  rich  in  color, 
and  flashing  with  a  profusion  of  gold  and  silver  ornaments,  when  viewed  by  the 
favorable  light  of  gas,  forms  a  crowning  grace  and  beauty  to  the  Palace,  imparting 
a  fairy-like  and  magical  effect  to  the  whole. 

The  treatment  of  the  exterior  requires  very  few  words  of  comment.  It  is 
painted  of  a  uniform  bronze  tint  or  olive,  enriched  by  gilding  all  ornamental 
features,  such  as  the  quatre-foils,  the  pinnacles  and  railings.  Where  large  surfaces 
occur,  a  rich  orange  tint,  in  imitation  of  gold,  has  been  substituted  for  gold-leaf, 
as  more  economical.  We  have  heard  it  objected  to  the  decoration  of  the  ex- 
terior; first,  that  by  it  the  real  material  of  construction  is  concealed;  secondly, 
that  the  imitation  of  a  more  costly  material  constitutes  a  deception.  In  answer  to 
this,  we  claim  the  benefit  of  a  distinction  between  counterfeiting  the  appearance 
of  a  material  and  borrowing  an  arrangement  of  color  suggested  by  it.  In  the 
present  instance,  no  attempt  to  deceive  has  been  made,  but,  on  the  contrary,  the 
use  of  bronze  powder  and  all  other  expedients,  by  which  painters  endeavor  to 
make  a  perfect  imitation  of  real  bronze,  have  been  expressly  avoided.  Since  con- 
structions of  iron  require  paint  to  preserve  them  from  rust,  we  can  conceive  of 
no  consideration  affecting  the  choice  of  color,  other  than  the  character  of  the 
building  itself  and  its  relation  to  surrounding  objects. 


ULTRAMARINE. 

THE  artist  and  the  decorator  are  indebted  to  the  science  of  chemistry  for  three 
of  their  best  and  most  permanent  colors,  and  of  one  of  these — artificial  ultra- 
marine — the  present  paper  contains  the  history.  At  the  same  time  it  is  a  striking 
illustration  of  the  manner  in  which  scienco  continually  aids  the  progress  of  the 
useful  arts. 

For  many  centuries,  the  beautiful  stone  called  lapis-lazuli,  has  been  known 
and  valued  for  its  rarity  and  for  its  color,  a  rich,  deep  azure-blue,  such  as  no  other 
mineral  possessed.  It  was  brought  from  China,  Siberia,  and  Persia ;  and  it  was 
also  found  on  the  banks  of  the  Indus,  disseminated  in  a  grayish  limestone.  Its 
richly  colored  varieties  were  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  mosaics,  and  spe- 
cimens of  it  thus  used,  may  be  seen  in  the  mosaics  of  the  Italian  department  of 
the  Exhibition.  When  it  occurred  in  masses  of  sufficient  size,  it  formed  the  ma- 
terial of  vases  and  similar  ornaments,  whose  beauty  was  enhanced  by  their  cost- 
liness. Magnificent  slabs  of  lapis-lazuli  still  adorn  some  of  the  cathedrals  of 
Italy.  The  fragments  of  lapis-lazuli  were  scarcely  less  valuable  than  the  masses. 
When  pulverized  and  mixed  with  wax,  resin,  and  linseed  oil,  and  kneaded  with 
water,  the  mineral  deposited  a  powder  free  from  impurities,  and  of  a  blue  color 
unequalled  for  beauty  and  permanence.  This  blue  received  the  namo  of  ultra- 
marine, and  was  sold  for  its  weight  in  gold.  Its  manufacture  remained  in  this 
condition  for  many  centuries,  and  its  use  therefore  was  very  limited. 

In  1814,  Vauquelin,  a  distinguished  chemist  of  France,  found  an  unknown  blue 

86 


substance  in  a  furnace,  used  for  the  manufacture  of  soda.  Upon  analysis,  he 
ascertained  that  its  composition  was  the  same  as  that  of  lapis-lazuli.  Alumina, 
silica,  soda,  sulphur,  and  iron,  the  constituents  of  the  precious  mineral,  had  met, 
by  accident,  in  the  proper  proportions,  and  formed  it  artificially.  From  this  ob- 
servation, Vauquelin  predicted  the  future  manufacture  of  artificial  ultramarine,  by 
synthesis,  or  the  combination  of  the  substances  that  compose  it  in  their  proper 
proportions. 

The  predicted  discovery  was  made  in  1828,  by  Guimet,  also  a  French  chemist. 
The  prize  which  had  been  offered  for  it  by  the  Societe  a"1  Encouragement,  was  given 
to  him  on  confidential  communication  of  his  process  to  Gay-Lussac.  Guimet  has 
never  made  his  process  public,  but  the  attention  of  other  chemists  being  drawn  to 
the  subject,  other  processes,  or  perhaps  the  same,  were  discovered  and  published  by 
Gmelin,  Robiquet,  Persoz,  Koettig,  and  Brunner.  The  process  of  Robiquet, 
which  seems  to  be  the  simplest  and  most  practical  of  those  published,  is  as 
follows : — 

A  mixture  of  two  parts  of  porcelain  clay,  three  parts  of  sulphur,  and  three 
parts  of  dry  carbonate  of  soda,  is  gradually  heated  in  a  close  earthenware  vessel 
until  it  ceases  to  give  off  vapors;  the  resulting  green  porous  mass  is  washed  with 
water,  and  the  blue  powder,  which  remains  undissolved,  is  again  heated  to  redness 
to  expel  the  excess  of  sulphur.    (Annalen  der  Pharmacie  10,  91.) 

The  manufacture  of  the  artificial  ultramarine  on  a  large  scale,  dates  from  this 
time,  and  has  since  rapidly  increased,  and  this  product  will  ultimately  become  as 
important  an  article  of  commerce  as  vermilion  or  white-lead.  The  price  has 
already  actually  been  brought  down  by  competition  between  manufacturers  and 
the  rapid  increase  in  the  demand,  to  something  like  half  a  dollar  per  pound,  being 
just  one  six  hundred  and  fortieth  part  of  the  cost  of  the  natural  ultramarine, 
formerly  made  from  lapis-lazuli. 

At  the  London  Exposition  in  1851,  there  were  a  number  of  exhibitors  of  this 
product,  among  whom,  Guimet,  the  first  discoverer  of  the  process,  was  judged 
worthy  of  the  highest  prize,  a  Council  Medal.  Guimet  is  also  an  exhibitor  in  our 
Crystal  Palace,  but  it  remains  to  be  seen  whether  two  years  of  improvement  have 
not  enabled  some  of  the  great  number  of  other  exhibitors  whom  we  have,  to 
surpass  him  in  the  art.  It  is  very  possible  that  the  credit  naturally  attached  to  a 
first  discoverer  may  have  had  some  weight  with  the  jury  of  the  London  Exhibi- 
tion, but  it  would  seem  as  if  the  non-publication  of  his  process  by  Guimet  should 
annul  any  claim  which  he  may  have  on  that  ground  over  other  independent  dis- 
coverers. There  are  certainly  many  specimens  on  exhibition  at  present,  which,  on 
superficial  examination,  seem  to  be  of  a  much  deeper  and  purer  azure  color  than 
Guimet's,  but  in  such  a  delicate  point  as  this  none  but  the  highly  trained  eye  of 
an  artist  can  be  trusted.  There  are  other  tests  which  must  also  be  applied  in 
deciding  the  relative  values  of  ultramarines,  besides  the  mere  impression  upon  the 
sight.  Thus  the  degree  of  opacity,  or  the  body,  as  it  is  technically  called,  when 
mixed  with  oil,  is  an  important  point.  The  artist's  practical  test  for  deciding  the 
relative  values  of  two  or  more  samples,  is  to  mix  each  with  about  equal 
quantities  of  white-lead  and  oil,  and  compare  the  resulting  tints.  The  sample 
which  has  the  greater  body  will  of  course  exhibit  the  darkest  color. 

Ultramarine  may  be  distinguished  from  Prussian  blue,  smalt,  cobalt-blue,  and 
all  other  blue  substances  whatever,  by  the  following  test :  when  diluted  sul- 
phuric or  muriatic  acid  is  poured  upon  it,  it  is  decomposed,  with  total  loss  of 
color,  and  evolution  of  a  fetid  smell,  due  to  the  formation  of  sulphuretted  hydrogen 
gas.  The  presence  of  ultramarine  in  any  substance  which  has  been  dyed  or  col- 
ored with  it,  may  be  easily  detected  by  this  test.  The  ordinary  bluish-colored 
letter  paper  answers  to  this  test.  On  being  wetted  with  the  diluted  acid,  it  is 
immediately  decolorized,  and  the  presence  of  sulphuretted  hydrogen  gas  in  the 
surrounding  air  is  readily  manifested,  not  only  by  the  strong  peculiar  smell  per- 
ceived, but  also  by  holding  over  the  paper  a  common  glazed  card,  moistened  with 
water,  which  is  immediately  turned  brown,  a  brown  snlphuret  of  lead  being  formed 
by  the  action  of  the  sulphuretted  hydrogen  upon  the  white-lead  with  which  the 
card  is  glazed. 

The  property  of  ultramarine  mentioned  above,  of  being  decomposed  by  diluted 
acids  with  loss  of  color,  is  taken  advantage  of  in  a  process  recently  proposed 
by  a  German  chemist  for  determining  the  relative  values  of  ultramarines ;  but 
the  process  is  one  which  is  not  susceptible  of  elucidation  to  the  general  reader, 
and  which  cannot  be  executed  with  precision,  except  by  the  educated  chemist. 
The  best  practical  test  for  tho  use  of  the  consumer,  is  that  by  mixture  with  oil 
and  white-lead,  as  before  described.  It  would  be  useful  also  to  the  artist  to  keep 
some  diluted  sulphuric  acid  at  hand,  and  ascertain  whether  his  ultramarines  are 
completely  decolorized  by  being  drenched  with  it,  which  would  indicate  the 
absence  of  adulterations,  such  as  Prussian  blue,  smalt,  indigo,  etc.,  because  none 
of  these  latter  substances  are  at  all  affected  by  tho  acid. 

There  is  another  application  of  ultramarine,  besides  its  use  by  the  painters,  to 
which  we  must  give  some  attention.  The  dyers  and  calico  printers,  whose  arts 
have  been  advanced  so  wonderfully  during  the  present  century  by  the  application 
of  chemical  science,  and  who,  taught  by  experience,  are  always  upon  the  qui  vive, 
and  eager  to  seize  any  new  application,  must  have  seen,  as  the  artificial  ultra- 
marine cheapened  in  price,  the  advantage  which  would  accrue  to  them  if  they 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


could  succeed  in  imbuing  their  fabrics  with  its  rich  blue  color.  But  here  a  colos-  ( 
sal  difficulty  immediately  occurred.  All  their  colors  had  been  previously  applied 
to  their  fabrics  in  the  form  of  solutions,  or  by  precipitation  from  solution.  But  no 
one  could  succeed  in  discovering  any  means  of  dissolving  ultramarine :  and,  in 
fact,  from  the  nature  of  the  substance,  the  discovery  of  any  solvent  for  it  was  to 
be  despaired  of.  Under  these  circumstances,  there  was  apparently  as  little  pros- 
pect of  success  in  fixing  ultramarine  upon  cloth  in  such  a  manner  that  it  could  not 
be  washed  off,  as  of  fixing  in  the  same  way  powdered  charcoal  or  any  other  per- 
fectly insoluble  substance.  The  aid  of  the  chemist,  so  often  invoked,  was  again 
solicited,  and  the  use  of  albumen  suggested.  Albumen  is  a  liquid  substance,  soluble 
in  water,  which,  upon  the  application  of  heat,  becomes  solid,  and  perfectly  inso- 
luble in  water.  The  white  of  eggs  consists  principally  of  albumen,  and  the  white 
of  eggs  mixed  with  water  was  accordingly  the  substance  used  by  the  calico 
printers  and  dyers.  The  ultramarine  in  fine  powder  was  diffused  through  this 
solution,  the  mixture  then  applied  to  the  cloth,  and  the  albumen  afterwards  co- 
agulated by  the  application  of  heat.  Every  particle  of  ultramarine  which  adhered 
to  the  cloth,  is  thus  enveloped  and  bound  fast  to  its  fibres  by  a  coating  of  insoluble 
albumen,  which  wholly  prevents  it  from  being  washed  off  by  water.  Modifica- 
tions of  this  process  have  since  been  invented  which  cheapen  it  very  much,  and 
which  are  now  used  very  extensively  in  England  and  Scotland.  The  albumen  of 
milk  is  now  substituted  for  that  of  eggs,  and  the  buttermilk  of  the  dairies,  which 
was  once  wasted  or  fed  to  animals,  is  now  sold  to  the  calico  printers. 

Ultramarine  has  one  property  which  gives  cause  of  complaint  to  the  manufac- 
turers of  ornamental  paper  and  others.  This  is  its  incapability  of  being  polished 
or  glazed,  as  they  term  it,  its  peculiar  structure  being  such,  that  a  reflecting  sur- 
face cannot  be  produced  upon  it.  This  property  may  be  accounted  for,  by  sup- 
posing the  granular  particles  to  possess  an  uneven  vitreous  fracture,  like  that 
possessed  by  the  natural  mineral  lapis  lazuli,  so  that  the  more  a  surface  covered 
with  ultramarine  is  rubbed  for  the  purpose  of  polishing  it,  the  greater  the  number 
of  minute  irregular  faces  produced,  which  reflect  light  in  all  directions,  and  con- 
sequently the  duller  and  less  reflective  the  surface  becomes.  At  the  same  time,  it 
must  be  remarked  that  the  beauty  of  ultramarine  for  most  of  its  uses  is  due  in  a 
great  measure  to  this  very  property  of  producing  a  dead  surface  like  deadened 
silver.  There  is  a  variety  of  ultramarine  called  ultramarine  green,  which  seems 
not  to  have  been  introduced  into  the  market  to  nearly  so  great  an  extent  as  the 
ultramarine  blue.  There  are  on  exhibition  in  the  Palace  several  specimens  of  this 
product,  which  present,  nevertheless,  a  very  good  color,  and  when  we  consider 
the  economy  which  must  eventually  be  found  in  the  manufacture  of  this  substance 
above  all  the  other  green  colors  at  present  in  use,  such  as  Paris  green  or  Scheele's 
green,  the  main  constituents  of  which  are  two  costly  substances,  arsenic  and  cop- 
per, verdigris,  which  is  also  a  copper  compound,  and  chrome  green,  we  may 
reasonably  expect  ultramarine  green  to  become  in  future  an  extensive  article  of 
commerce. 

The  various  processes  which  have  been  proposed  for  making  ultramarine  green, 
are  essentially  the  same  as  those  for  the  ultramarine  blue,  except  that  the  last 
roasting,  to  drive  off  the  excess  of  sulphur,  is  dispelled  with,  so  that  the  sole 
difference  between  the  two  colors  appears  to  be,  that  the  green  ultramarine  con- 
tains more  sulphur  than  the  blue.  Certain  precautions  are  of  course  necessary  to 
produce  a  fine  color,  which  are  of  interest  only  to  technologists. 

The  ingredient  or  ingredients,  in  the  natural  and  artificial  ultramarines,  to 
which  the  color  is  to  be  attributed,  is  a  question  which  has  occupied  the  attention 
of  several  chemists  and  given  rise  to  considerable  discussion,  without,  however,  a 
definite  settlement  up  to  the  present  time.  At  first  it  was  attributed  to  the 
presence  of  sulphuret  of  iron  formed  by  the  action  of  the  sulphur  upon  small  quan- 
tities of  iron  present  in  the  mass  and  derived  from  the  materials  employed.  This 
hypothesis  derived  support  from  the  fact  that  sulphuret  of  iron  may  be  obtained, 
by  chemical  precipitation,  diffused  through  a  liquid  in  excessively  small  quantity, 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  impart  to  the  liquid  a  deep  green,  or  even  bluish-green 
color  by  transmitted  light.  This  is  a  phenomenon  frequently  encountered  by 
chemical  analysis.  Brunner  and  others,  however,  have  stated  that  they  have 
prepared  blue  ultramarine  from  materials  entirely  free  from  the  smallest  trace  of 
iron,  and  if  Brunner's  authority  is  received,  the  coloring  matter  of  ultramarine 
must  be  considered  a  substance  mi  generis,  having  no  analogue  whatever  among  all 
known  chemical  compounds,  being  in  fact  a  compound  of  sulphur,  silicon,  alu- 
minum, sodium  and  oxygen  possessed  of  a  blue  color,  whereas  no  two  more  of 
these  five  elements  are  known  to  form  any  other  compound  possessed  of  the 
smallest  tinge  of  blue  or  green  color. 

On  a  thorough  consideration  of  the  subject,  however,  the  last  hypothesis  seems 
hardly  credible,  and  it  appears  probable  that  those  chemists  who  have  prepared 
ultramarine  from  materials  free  from  iron,  have  accidentally  introduced  traces  of 
this  metal  during  the  process.  Thus  it  is  almost  impossible  for  a  chemist  who 
knows  the  affinity  of  sulphur  for  iron  to  suppose  that  they  can  coexist  in  the  mass, 
together  with  soda,  during  the  process,  without  the  formation  of  some  highly 
colored  compound,  and  the  belief  that  ultramarine  can  exist,  which  is  free  from 
iron,  involves  the  necessity  of  supposing  that  the  highly  colored  sulphuret  of  iron 
existing  in  ultramarine  which  does  contain  iron,  has  little  or  no  effect  upon  the 


color.  It  is  certain  that  some  who  have  tried  to  obtain  a  blue-colored  mass  from 
materials  containing  no  traces  of  iron  have  failed ;  but  such  negative  results 
are,  of  course,  of  comparatively  small  value,  and  on  the  other  side  of  the  question 
may  be  brought  forward  the  well  known  fact  that  the  presence  of  more  than  an 
exceedingly  small  per  centage  of  iron  injures  or  ruins  the  color,  and  also  the  sin- 
gular fact,  that  if  potash  is  substituted  for  soda,  no  blue  or  green  color  can  be 
produced  under  any  circumstances,  the  corresponding  potash  compound  being 
white.  This  last  fact  distinctly  connects  the  color  with  the  sodium  which  is 
present,  while  the  effect  of  dilute  acids  in  destroying  the  color  with  simultaneous 
expulsion  of  a  portion  of  the  sulphur  in  the  form  of  sulphuretted  hydrogen,  indi- 
cates a  probable,  though  not  a  necessary  dependence  of  the  color  upon  the  sulphur. 
The  whole  subject,  in  fact,  needs  reinvestigation,  and  may  be  urged  as  being 
decidedly  one  of  the  most  interesting  subjects  with  which  a  chemist  could  occupy 
himself,  and  one  which  promises  important  practical  results. 

In  conclusion,  a  few  applications  of  artificial  ultramarine  may  be  pointed  out 
which  may  be  seen  exemplified  in  the  Exhibition.  Thus  great  quantities  of  sta- 
tionery in  the  American  department  may  be  seen,  which  are  undoubtedly  colored 
with  ultramarine.  Ornamental  paper  for  walls  and  other  purposes,  among  the 
colors  of  which  ultramarine  forms  a  prominent  ingredient,  may  be  seen  in  various 
places.  Soaps  and  leather,  colored  with  ultramarine,  are  on  exhibition.  Signs 
and  placards  composed  of  gilt  letters,  upon  an  ultramarine  ground,  are  very  com- 
mon. The  backs  of  many  of  the  show-cases  are  colored  with  ultramarine,  its 
azure  color  appearing  to  be  a  favorite  tint  for  such  backgrounds ;  and,  lastly,  it 
is  an  important  auxiliary  in  the  decoratiou  of  the  Crystal  Palace  itself,  a  light- 
colored  ultramarine  having  been  largely  employed  in  painting  the  roof  and  columns, 
as  well  as  the  canvas  which  covers  the  interior  of  the  dome. 


NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE. 

TT  would  be  foreign  to  the  objects  aimed  at  in  the  Record,  to  attempt  more  than 
J-  a  mere  popular  elucidation  of  the  principles  of  the  science  of  naval  architec- 
ture, in  which  the  results  of  the  last  few  years  have  established  tlie  United  States 
in  an  eminent  position.  In  the  infancy  of  the  republic,  a  happy  preservation  of 
neutrality  in  the  European  wars,  placed  her,  in  connection  with  England,  then  the 
most  powerful  maritime  nation,  in  possession  of  the  carrying  trade  of  the  world. 
The  English  merchantmen  were  compelled  to  sail  in  company,  under  the  protec- 
tion of  a  convoy,  and  the  movements  of  the  entire  squadron  being  regulated  by 
those  of  the  dullest  sailer,  superior  qualities  of  speed  were  of  no  benefit,  and  the 
skill  of  her  builders  was  centred  upon  attaining  the  greatest  possible  capacity  from 
the  measured  dimensions.  Her  absurd  tonnage  laws  afterwards  sustained  the  evil 
until  the  system  was  too  deeply  rooted  to  be  readily  cast  aside;  and  even  at  this 
day,  so  superior  are  American  ships,  that  British  merchants  prefer  them  as  invest- 
ments, and  own  a  large  portion  of  the  stock  of  the  American  transatlantic 
liners  and  packet  ships. 

The  mathematical  solutions  of  the  various  problems  involved  in  ship  building, 
are  so  largely  modified  by  practice,  that  there  is  no  necessity  for  following  them 
further  than  to  enable  us  to  establish  with  certainty  the  effects  of  the  different 
proportions,  and  by  experimenting  understandingly,  avoid  a  repetition  of  error, 
and  expand  to  their  fullest  extent  those  principles  which  may  prove  advanta- 
geous. A  convincing  demonstration  of  the  solid  of  least  resistance  is  of  little  bene- 
fit ;  but  while  records  of  mere  facts  of  much  less  complexity  than  those  involved  in 
this  science  have  proved  a  facility  for  error  in  observation  and  omission,  it  bo- 
comes  necessary  to  reject  all  that  conflicts  with  the  known  laws  of  natural  philo- 
sophy, and  cautiously  receive  whatever  may  not  be  in  accordance  with  reason. 
Pure  theory  is  perfect ;  but,  unfortunately,  too  often  becomes  so  only  when  the 
science  to  which  it  is  applied  has  been  perfected. 

With  the  other  dimensions  and  conditions  remaining  constant,  the  immediate 
effect  of  length  is  to  decrease  the  direct  resistance  of  the  water  to  the  passage  of 
the  hull,  and  to  diminish  the  leeway  and  violence  of  the  rolling  and  pitching 
motions.  As,  in  the  passage  of  the  vessel,  a  distance  corresponding  to  its  length, 
the  water  is  divided  and  separated  a  distance  equal  to  the  breadth  of  the  section, 
it  follows  that  a  vessel,  200  feet  long,  will  transmit  no  more  motion  in  passing 
200  feet,  than  one  of  half  the  length  will  in  going  half  the  distance;  the  longer 
vessel  would  displace  double  the  quantity  of  water,  but  would  communicate  to  each 
particle  only  half  the  velocity  which  it  would  have  received  from  the  smaller  one ; 
and  as  fluid  resistance  varies  as  the  squares  of  the  velocities,  the  resistance  to  ships, 
other  things  being  equal,  varies  in  an  inverse  ratio  with  the  squares  of  their  lengths. 
The  length  being  doubled,  theoretically  considering  this  element  alone,  it  would 
require  but  one  quarter  of  the  power.  The  benefit  derived  from  the  superiority 
of  acute  angles  for  cleavage,  is  practically  limited  by  the  friction  of  the  immersed 
surface  and  insufficient  buoyancy  of  the  ends.  The  retardation  occasioned  by  the 
friction  of  the  water  has  been  too  generally  disregarded,  and  its  importance  is 
only  realized  by  making  a  calculation  on  a  sea-steamer,  where  the  power  is  known 

8T 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


1.DIAG0NAL. 


28 


from  mi  indicator,  and  which  will  show  that  nearly  one-half  the  power  utilized  in 
propelling  the  vessels  is  absorbed  by  the  friction  of  the  water  on  its  immersed 
surface.  The  ex-  , 
periments  of  Col. 
Beaufoy  estab- 
lish the  friction 
of  a  square  foot 
of  smooth  sur- 
face moving  on 
the  water  at  the 
rate  of  ten  feet 
per  second,  to  be 
sis- tenths  of  a 
pound ;  and  at 
deep  immersions 
it  must  be  great- 
er. The  failure 
of  the  steamboat 
Rainbow, built  in 
New- York  about 
twelve  years  ago, 
to  make  the  trips 

on  the  Hudson  River  in  some  incredibly  short  time,  exemplifies  the  evil  effect  of 
excessive  length. 

Breadth  affects  the  stability,  and  when  carried  to  an  injurious  extent,  endan- 
gers the  safety  of  the  spars ;  and  by  enlarging  the  midship  section,  increases  the 
direct  resistance 

to  motion.    It  is   £=°!aspnal. 

difficult  to  upset 
a  shingle,  and 
the  excessive 
breadth  giving  it  Q 
this  quality,  is 
also  the  cause  of 
the  sluggish  mo- 
tions which  ad- 
mits of  its  being 
washed  over  by 
every  sea.  It  is 
highly  advan- 
tageous for  ocean 

steamers  to  possess  a  large  amount  of  buoyancy  at  the  load  lines  for  the  purpose 
of  lessening  the  difference  of  drafts  and  variable  action  of  paddle-wheels,  which  in 
leaving  port  deeply  immersed,  frequently  dissipate  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the 
power  of  the  engines  in  oblique  action,  and  after  burning  six  or  eight  hundred 
tons  of  coal,  close  the  voyage  with  so  little  hold  on  the  water,  that  nearly  the 
whole  power  is 
extended  in 
dashing  the  wa- 
ter backward.  In 
a  fast  -  sailing 
ship,  intended  to 
beweatherly,  the 
draft  is  deter- 
mined by  the  ne- 
cessity for  a  hold 
on  the  water  to 
prevent  leeway: 
in  steamers,  and 
particularly  in 
river  steamers, 
where  the  power 
is  applied  paral- 
lel to  the  keel, 
and  there  are 
fewer  disturbing 
forces  acting  up- 
on the  hull,  the  depth  of  hold  and  draft  of  water  may  be  made  much  less. 

The  midship  section  of  a  ship  is  a  cross  section  at  its  widest  part,  and  as  the 
gradation  to  the  ends  is  gradual,  it  represents  generally  the  figure  of  the  body  of 
the  ship,  and  the  qualities  given  by  its  peculiar  shape,  determine  the  character 
of  the  vessel.  A  cylinder  floating  in  the  water,  has  no  stability,  because  the  shape 
of  tho  immersed  portion  remaining  unchanged,  the  centre  of  buoyancy,  or  centre  of 
gravity  of  the  hollow  made  in  the  water  by  the  floating  body,  and  in  which  the 
whole  upward  or  sustaining  force  of  the  water  may  be  supposed  to  be  concentra- 

88 


_WALE. 

TOP  HEIGHT. 

G-W.  LINE. 

 ' — " 

5 

4 

3 

 1 

2 

1 

j 

6 

4 

4 

ted,  remains  in  any  position  of  the  cylinder  in  the  vertical  line  passing  through  its 
centre  of  gravity.    In  a  flat,  rectangular  figure,  the  centre  of  buoyancy  is  directly 

under  the  centre 
of  gravity  when 
floating  on  its 
side,  but  when 
inclined  by  the 
application  of  a 
force  until  the 
water  line  is  no 
longer  parallel  to 
the  side,  but  cor- 
responds with  a 
diagonal  of  the 
figure,  the  centre 
of  buoyancy  ia 
one-third  of  the 
width  from  the 
immersed  edge, 
and  operates  as 
the  whole  weight 
of  the  displace- 
ment at  the  end  of  a  lever,  whose  length  is  the  horizontal  distance  between  a 
vertical  line  passing  through  it  and  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the  body  which 
remains  as  before.  As  this  latter  figure  is  difficult  of  inclination,  it  will  not  meet 
the  force  of  waves  by  rising  readily  and  quickly,  and  when  the  difficulty  of  motion 

is  overcome,  the 
bearings  or  limits 
of  inclination  are 
so  suddenly 
reached,  that  the 
motion  is  abrupt- 
ly  checked. 
Should  it  be  load- 
ed in  such  a  man- 
ner, that  a  verti- 
cal line  passing 
through  the  cen- 
tre of  gravity  of 
the  mass  falls 
outside    of  tho 

centre  of  buoyancy,  the  forces  of  gravity  and  buoyancy  will  act  in  concer  and 
turn  the  body  over  until  the  displace  ment  becomes  such  that  the  two  centres  are 
in  vertical  line.  The  midship  section  is  shaped  with  reference  to  tho  disturb- 
ing force,  and  should  be  so  nicely  adjusted  that  there  is  no  wide  difference  bet  ween 
the  solid  lifted  from  the  water  by  the  rolling  of  the  ship  and  that  immersed  by 

the  same  process 
— the  preponder- 
ance of  the  latter 
determining  tlie 
ease  and  smooth- 
ness with  which 
the  vessel  recov- 
ers her  upright 
position.  The 
greatest  breadth 
is  above  the  load 
water-line,  and 
there  is  no  very 
good  reason 
why  tho  sides 
should  fall  in  or 
"  tumble  home '' 
above,  as  is  usu- 
ally practised. 
Custom  or  fash- 
ion sanctions  it, 

as  it  once  did  the  heavy  bowsprit,  rakish  :-heer,  and  overhanging  stern,  which 
were  deemed  essential  to  at  least  a  shipshape  appearance,  but  are  now  discarded. 

Theoretical  considerations  alone  will  warrant  the  use  of  hollow  lines  as 
tho  readiest  way  of  moving  the  opposing  water,  but  friction  and  other  disad- 
vantages attendant  upon  a  long,  thin  bow,  with  insufficient  buoyancy  to  sup- 
port itself,  will  probably  more  than  compensate  for  the  diminished  direct  resistance. 
In  the  American  ocean  steamers,  the  gradual  flare  and  easy  rise  of  the  bow,  with  no 
superfluous  weight,  has  given  them  a  world-wide  reputation  for  freedom  from  pitch- 


THE    NEW -  YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED 


ing  and  facility  in  meeting  the  -waves.  The  same  considerations  of  pitching  and 
'scending  apply  to  the  stern,  which  should  possess  the  requisite  fulness  ahove  the 
water  graduated  to  avoid  the  occurrence  of  violent  and  sudden  shocks,  and  he  re- 
lieved of  all  unnecessary  weight,  which,  in  such  a  place,  is  renderedmore  injurious 
by  its  leverage.  The  water  filling  into  the  vacuity  left  by  the  passage  of  a  vessel, 
does  so  with  a  rapidity  proportioned  to  the  pressure  or  depth,  and  consequently 
with  a  velocity  decreasing  towards  the  surface  where  it  should  be  quiescent.  To 
facilitate  this  action,  the  upper  water-lines  require  to  be  full,  and  the  lower  ones 
finely  tapered,  so  that  the  diagonal  lines  representing  the  probable  course  of  the 


quick,  but  require  a  ready  eye  and  hand  to  meet  the  seas  on  either  bow,  which 
would  cause  her  to  fall  from  her  course.  A  great  difference  in  the  draft  for- 
ward aud  aft,  is  objectionable  on  account  of  the  necessity  for  deep  water,  but  is 
necessary  in  vessels  of  this  class  to  counteract  the  effect  of  the  preponderating 
after  sails. 

A  beautifully  executed  model  of  the  clipper-ship,  N.  B.  Palmer,  as  constructed 
by  Jacob  A.  Westervelt  &  Co.,  shows  the  disposition  of  the  timber  and  bracing, 
and  forms  a  complete  study.  If  a  ship  were  divided  in  its  length  into  a  number 
of  sections,  those  in  the  middle  would  rise,  and  at  the  ends  would  sink  from  the 


water,  have  a  quick  ascent  from  the  keel  and  approach  the  horizontal  at  the 
surface.  It  was  found  that  the  steamboat  John  Neilson,  which  has  a  peculiar  flat 
floor  gradually  rising  aft,  for  the  purpose  of  retaining  a  stratum  of  air  pumped 
under  her  bottom  to  lessen  its  friction,  is  improved  by  an  application  of  false  stern 
in  conformity  with  the  principle  above  recorded  ;  which  is  not  a  generally  recog- 
nized one,  although  carried  out  to  some  extent  in  the  yacht  America,  and  other 
recently  modelled  clippers.  By  the  courtesy  of  her  modeller,  George  Steers,  Esq., 
we  are  enabled  to  furnish  a  drawing  of  the  after-body  of  the  "America,"  exempli- 
fying the  various  water  lines  and  diagonals  used  in  the  draught  of  a  ship. 

The  calculations  of  the  size 
and  position  of  the  sails  require 
a  knowledge  merely  of  the  simple 
problems  of  resolution  and  com- 
position of  forces,  and  may  be  ea- 
sily examined  in  detail ;  but,  as  in 
those  of  the  hull,  although  the  ab- 
stract principles  are  simple  when 
examined  singly,  their  combina- 
tion to  produce  the  desired  result 
involves  a  sagacity  and  powers 
of  observation,  analysis,  and  ap- 
plication, not  surpassed  in  any 
other  profession,  and  not  at  all 
lessoned  by  the  fact  that  they  are 
not  made  to  apply  to  particular  cir- 
cumstances, but  must  correspond 
to  the  varying  requirements  of 
trade  and  travel  frequently  in- 
volving an  antagonism  of  princi- 
ples. Take,  for  instance,  the  con- 
sideration of  steering  qualities : — 
It  is  desirable  on  account  of  safety 
that  a  vessel  should  carry  a  wea- 
ther-helm to  counteract  a  ten- 
dency to  come  nearer  the  wind, 
and  there  is  no  doubt  but  it  ma- 
terially assists  the  progress  of  the 
vessel  by  diminishing  the  leeway ; 
but  when  the  sails  and  hull  are  so 
badly  adapted,  that  they  require 
a  constant  and  material  correc- 
tive action  of  the  helm,  the  retarding  effect  of  the  rudder  must  be  very  considerable. 

A  model  of  the  pilot  boat  Enchantress,  by  D.  D.  "Westervelt,  is  the  best  in  the 


common  level,  producing  the  effect  termed  "  hogging : "  again,  when  a  ship  is 
heeled  in  a  wind,  the  action  of  the  water  on  the  inclined  surface  of  the  bow  occa- 
sions a  lateral  curvature,  amounting,  in  an  English  man-of-war,  where  provision 
was  made  for  observing  with  accuracy,  to  a  departure  of  one  inch  and  a  half  from 
a  straight  line,  or  a  variation  of  three  inches  on  the  two  tacks.  These,  and  various 
other  strains,  and  the  necessity  for  discarding  useless  material,  require  a  scientific 
disposition  of  timber.  The  tendency  to  hogging  is  guarded  against  by  solid  floors 
to  resist  the  compression  below,  and  direct  connections  above,  extending  the 
whole  length,  to  sustain  the  tension  which  obtains  there  as  in  a  beam  loaded  at 

the  ends  and  supported  in  the 
middle.  The  iron  braces  which 
are  frequently  used  to  strengthen 
the  hull,  and  when  double  form 
a  lattice  work  crossing  on  the 
sides  at  right  angles,  might  be 
more  advantageously  disposed  as 
an  arch  springing  from  the  un- 
supported ends  and  rising  as  high 
as  possible  amidships. 
:        i_ .  Clipper  ship  Whirlwind,  mod- 

is^  elled     by     Kobert  Underhill. 

jjSBfcjfe  -,  Length  200  feet;    breadth  40 

feet  and  depth  20  feet.  Clipper 
IPHBMBfcfef^V,  s^ip  Vision,  of  750  tons  custom- 

house measurement.    Length  on 
deck,  150  feet;  moulded  breadth 
'^S^BIIIIIISJSJ^         of  beam,  32  feet  4  inches,  and 
aj  jj§  depth  20  feet;  modelled  by  An- 

gfljgp(ij||§Et -/       anias  Dekke,   of  Boston.  Tho 
"Vision"  has  full  water-lines  aft, 
hut  is  also  full  below,  and  is  in 
this    respect    inferior    to  the 
.  "Whirlwind."     The  latter  has 

steamboat  ends,  and  being  pro- 
— -  portionably    longer,    has  more 

'J-  acute  angles. 

. .    .  TJ.  S.  Mail  Steamer  Blinois, 

•  •     .  _  ..•  built  by  Smith  &  Dimon.  The 

"     -  midship  section  of  this  model  is 

placed  aft  the  middle  of  the 
length,  and  it  is  likely  the  bo.dy 
would  be  improved  by  shifting  a  portion  of  the  buoyancy  at  the  foremast  to  about 
the  mizen.    She  has  something  of  the  English  full  after-body,  but  not  carried 


Exhibition  to  illustrate  the  steering  qualities  of  a  ship.  With  a  light,  buoyant 
bow  to  rise  readily  over  the  waves,  and  a  deep,  lean  stern,  she  will  steer  easily  and 


out  so  completely  as  in  the  "  Georgia"  by  the  same  builders,  and  would  be  more  easi- 
ly steered  and  propelled  had  the  rise  of  the  lower  after-lines  been  earlier  commenced 

89 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


There  is  also  a  model  of  a  steamship  proposed  by  Darius  Davidson,  which 
demands  attention,  on  account  of  the  magnitude  of  its  dimensions.  The  length 
of  keel  is  700  feet,  and  of  deck  500  feet ;  beam  80  feet,  and  depth  60  feet.  It 
is  to  be  propelled  by  sixteen  engines,  indicated  in  the  model  by  eight  sets  of  smoke 
pipes  placed  along  the  deck;  and  her  time  in  crossing  the  Atlantic,  it  is  antici- 
pated by  the  sanguine  Mr.  Davidson,  will  bo  inside  of  five  days.  The  pointed 
ends,  projecting  100  feet  from  the  body  of  the  hull,  would  make  capital  adjuncts 
to  a  machine  for  diving  purposes.  A  false  bow,  similar  to  the  above,  was  tried 
on  the  steamboat  Albany,  in  1838,  and  discarded. 

William  A.  Sillen  exhibits  a  good  model  of  a  ship,  to  which  he  has  attached  a 
card,  stating  that  having  discovered  a  diversity  of  opinions  as  to  the  proper  shape 
for  insuring  the  desired  sea-going  qualities  in  a  ship,  he  concluded  there  was  some 
mistake  in  the  ordinary  theory,  and  was  led  to  institute  a  series  of  peculiar  exper- 
iments, by  which  {mirabile  dictu)  he  was  convinced  that  the  water  does  not  pass 
along  the  ship's  sides  and  bottom  in  lines  parallel  to  the  surface.  Diagonals,  or 
proving  lines,  havo  been  employed  in  laying  down  a  ship's  lines  ever  since  draw- 
ings were  used  in  their  construction. 

Proposed  plan  for  a  yacht  Petrel,  by  F.  S.  Copley.  At  the  load  water-line 
this  vessel  will  possess  no  stability,  and  the  motion  easily  induced  will  abruptly 
cease  on  the  immersion  of  the  broad,  flaring  side  to  leeward.  Place  her  in  an 
inclined  position,  and  the  motion  of  the  water  upward  and  backward,  passing 
under  its  surface  around  the  angles  and  irregularities,  will  be  very  varied,  and,  as 
may  be  readily  conceived,  not  particularly  conducive  to  speed.  The  double  keel 
will  not  oppose  twice  the  resistance  of  a  single  one  to  leeway,  but  will  offer  its 
full  proportion  of  friction.  A  keel,  at  any  rate,  is  of  no  use  in  running  with  a 
free  wind,  and  when  on  the  wind  a  centre-board  will  answer  the  purpose  equally 
well,  and  may  be  raised  or  lowered  to  suit  the  varying  requirements.  Small 
vessels  may  be  made  as  strong  without  them,  and  the  handling  of  the  weight, 
with  the  assistance  of  counterbalance  springs,  as  applied  in  the  yacht  Maria,  is  a 
very  simple  matter.  The  U.  S.  Schooner  Onkahye  had  a  section  similar  to  that 
of  the  "  Petre,"  (with  the  exception  of  the  double  keel),  and  was  indebted  to  it  for 
constantly  endangering  her  spars  and  ultimate  loss  by  capsizing. 

The  French  department  of  the  Exhibition  contains  a  model  of  a  steamer  pro- 
pelled by  submerged  wheels,  precisely  similar  to  those  known  in  this  country  as 
Hunter's  patent.  A  pair  of  ordinary  radial  wheels  are  placed  horizontally  in  the 
vessel  below  the  water-line,  with  the  paddles  projecting  from  the  sides.  Restrict- 
ed as  they  necessarily  are  in  size,  an  engineer  would  at  once  anticipate  an  enor- 
mous slip,  amounting,  in  the  applications  of  this  plan,  made  by  the  United  States 
Government,  to  about  fifty  per  cent.  Even  to  the  most  unprofessional,  one  would 
think  this  proposition  of  carrying  wheels  and  wheel  houses  (the  latter,  moreover, 
filled  with  water)  inside  the  hold  of  the  vessel,  would  be  preposterous. 


LIFE-BOATS. 


IN  consequence  of  the  exertions  of  the  National  Shipwreck  Institution  of  Great 
Britain,  much  attention  has  there  been  devoted  to  the  subject  of  life-boats ;  and 
a  collection  of  the  best,  comprising  no  less  than  fifty-four  specimens  selected  and 
contributed  by  the  Duke  of  Northumberland,  the  President  of  the  Institu- 
tion, formed  one  of  the  prominent  features  of  the  London  Exhibition.  The 
encouragement  of  these  valuable  productions,  furnished  by  the  private  munificence 
of  the  distinguished  President,  was  so  splendid  an  example  of  liberality  in  the 
cause  of  humanity  and  practical  science,  that  the  jury  having  cognizance  of  the 
subject,  reported  him  worthy  of  a  Council  Medal.  The  importance  of  the  subject 
will  be  recognized  without  a  statistical  exhibit  here  of  the  numerous  shipwrecks 
and  frightful  loss  of  life,  which  it  is  too  frequently  the  duty  of  the  daily  journals 
to  record.  The  Steamboat  Law,  passed  by  Act  of  Congress,  on  the  30th  of  August 
1852,  provides  that  every  steamer  shall  carry  a  number  of  life-boats,  proportionate 
to  her  size,  amounting  in  the  case  of  a  vessel  exceeding  fifteen  hundred  tons  to 
six ;  and  a  number  of  life  preservers  otherwise  specified. 

Besides  the  buoyancy  requisite  to  carry  a  heavy  load  of  passengers  with  its 
crew,  a  life-boat  should  be  formed  to  pull  easily  and  be  readily  managed,  and  in 
the  event  of  being  upset,  should  be  able  to  right  itself.  A  sad  experience  has 
shown  in  more  than  one  instance  that  the  want  of  this  last  quality  may  occasion 
the  loss  of  a  brave  crew.  The  form  best  adapted  for  the  purposes  of  a  boat  to  be 
chiefly  employed  under  the  exigencies  of  a  storm  in  which  ordinary  boats  are 
unable  to  live,  is  that  usually  given  to  whale-boats,  but  with  more  breadth  of 
beam  to  furnish  the  stability  required  by  the  incautious  movements  of  frightened 
passengers,  and  the  necessity  for  rescuing  them  from  the  water  and  dragging  them 
in  over  the  gunwale.  That  this  valuable  property  may,  however,  bo  carried  to 
excess,  seems  to  be  demonstrated  by  several  recorded  instances  of  life-boats  having 
a  proportion  of  beam,  exceeding  one-third  of  the  length,  in  conjunction  probably 


with  full  terminations,  being  turned  end  over  end  in  a  heavy  Bea.  To  enable  a  boat 
to  right  itself  when  upset,  it  should  be  ballasted  along  the  bottom,  and  have  air- 
tanks  at  the  ends  carried  up  as  high  as  practicable  by  sheer  of  gunwale.  Water 
ballasting  to  be  admitted  at  pleasure,  has  been  used  in  a  tank  extending  along  the 
keel ;  and  although  the  attainable  variation  in  weight  of  ballast  is  useful  when 
under  sail,  at  which  time,  however,  the  unemployed  men  may  sit  to  windward 
and  answer  the  same  purpose,  yet,  in  more  ordinary  circumstances,  and  par- 
ticularly at  the  moment  of  launching,  when  accidents  are  very  likely  to  occur, 
the  advantages  of  permanent  ballast  are  superior  to  those  attendant  on  that 
which  can  only  be  taken  in  when  the  boat  is  afloat,  and  the  chief  merit  of  which 
lies  in  the  diminished  weight  for  transportation  ashore.  Probably  the  best  man- 
ner of  ballasting  a  boat  is  to  give  the  bottom  an  inner  lining  of  common  cork, 
covered  by  an  ordinary  flat  floor;  thus  reducing  the  internal  capacity  and 
enabling  it  to  rise  when  swamped  under  a  sea,  and  still  sufficiently  heavy  to  insure 
stability.  With  the  buoyancy  occasioned  by  the  use  of  air-tanks,  a  boat  heavily 
laden  and  filled  with  water  may  be  able  to  swim,  and,  indeed,  rise  a  few  inches 
above  the  surface  of  the  water :  now,  if  in  this  latter  case,  there  was  an  outlet  or 
hole  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  the  water  inside  and  outside  would  endeavor  to 
reach  a  common  level,  and  that  inside  would  run  out,  and  the  boat  being  lightened, 
would  continue  to  rise  until  the  general  buoyancy  and  weight  corresponded — 
self-acting  valves  opening  outwards,  therefore,  are  valuable  adjuncts  to  a  life- 
boat. 

The  Act  of  Congress,  which  has  been  referred  to,  specifies  that  the  life-boats 
must  be  made  of  metal.  Where  a  wooden  boat  would  be  crushed  amid  the 
fragments  of  a  wreck,  or  stove  by  a  projecting  rock,  a  metal  one  will  escape  with 
an  indentation  which  may  be  easily  repaired,  and  at  any  rate  interferes  but  little 
with  its  useful  properties.  In  the  case  of  fire  they  are  pre-eminently  superior. 
Their  tightness,  freedom  from  worms,  and  immunity  from  warping  by  exposure 
to  the  sun,  has  occasioned  the  employment  of  metal  as  the  chief  material  of  con- 
struction, to  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  prime  elements  of  a  life-boat.  A  wooden 
Whitehall  boat,  built  and  exhibited  by  one  of  the  best  builders  in  New-York, 
illustrates  the  superiority  of  metal  as  a  material.  During  the  short  time  which 
has  elapsed  since  it  was  placed  in  the  Exhibition,  the  dryness  of  the  atmosphere 
has  already  sprung  several  of  the  planks  and  fastenings  and  opened  some  of  the 
seams. 

Francis1  Life-Boat. — It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  owners  of  Francis'  patent, 
who  have  manufactured  over  twenty-five  hundred  metallic  boats,  have  not  ex- 
hibited a  fair  specimen  of  their  life-boats — considering  the  term  in  its  definite 
meaning  and  per  se.  The  one  furnished  is  a  copper,  man-of-war-cutter,  thirty-one 
feet  long,  of  the  ordinary  model,  and  furnished  with  air-tanks  at  the  ends.  The 
chief  and  most  valuable  pecu- 
liarity is  the  corrugations  of 
the  metal,  resembling  external- 
ly a  clinker-built  boat,  and  ma- 
terially enhancing  the  strength 
with  but  little  addition  to  the 
weight.  The  sheets  of  which 
the  boat  is  formed,  are  struck 

into  shape  between  dies  operated  by  a  hydraulic  press,  and  the  variations  from 
the  original  plane  superfices  are  chief!}'  taken  up  by  the  corrugations.  The  gieat 
increase  of  strength  is  exemplified  by  the  exhibition  of  examples  of  similar  sheets, 
in  which  the  corrugated  one  supports  a  heavy  load  without  appreciable  flexure, 
and  the  other  and  plain  one  sinks  under  its  own  weight.  Galvanized  iron  is 
cheaper,  but  slightly  inferior  to  copper,  and  is  more  generally  used. 

In  storms  of  such  violence,  that  it  is  impossible  to  manage  a  boat,  communi- 
cation may  be  instituted  between 
the  shore  and  a  wreck,  by  means 
of  a  hawser  drifted  ashore  by  a 
barrel,  or  thrown  from  the  shore 
with  the  assistance  of  a  rocket  or 
a  ball.  On  this  hawser  a  close 
car,  conveying  passengers,  repre- 
sented in  the  accompanying  draw- 
ing, may  be  traversed  backward  and  forward  by  the  lines  attached  to  its  ends. 

Lewis  Raymond,  of  New-  York,  furnishes  a  galvanized  iron  life-boat,  of  the 
whale-boat  model,  with  air-tanks  at  the  ends  and  along  the  sides,  and  fitted 
with  self-acting  bailing  valves,  the  uses  and  advantages  of  which  have  been 
adverted  to. 

In  the  English  department  is  exhibited  a  model  of  an  iron  boat,  or  car,  with 
no  name  attached.  It  has  no  rowlocks  or  thole  pins,  and  is  shaped  like  a  car 
without  a  top.  Its  distinguishing  peculiarity  is  an  arrangement  of  buoyant  fen- 
ders placed  on  each  side,  about  the  width  of  the  boat  distant  from  it,  and  nearly 
equal  to  its  length — they  are  placed  on  a  flexible  beam  fastened  to  stanchions 
extending  to  the  boat,  the  centre  one  of  which  is  stationary,  and  the  end  ones 
allowed  to  slip  into  recesses  or  cases  built  in  the  boat  and  extending  under  its 
seats. 


90 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


The  three  groups  of  Statuettes  in  terra  cotta,  are  exhi-  |  bited  by  Andre..  Bom,  some  of  whose  contributions  have  I  been  given  on  previous  pages  of  the  Record. 


**J/HI-flEV_  *",l£'  1R-  AINU  SC  ■   —  ■ 


The  Fisher  Bov  of  Powers,  inadequately  represented  I  statues  that  stand  near  it,  the  Eve  and  the  Greek  Slave, 
iu  our  engraving,  is  not,  in  our  judgment,  a  rival  of  the  |  and  falls  far  short  of  the  admirable  truth  and  beauty  of, 

91 


Wie- 


the Justs,  in  which  our  great  sculptor  is  confessedly  un- 
rivalled. The  sentiment  of  the  statue  is  expressed  in 
those  finest  lines  of  Landor,  describing  the  murmuring 
shell : 

Then  apply 
Its  polished  lips  to  your  attentive  ear, 
And  it  remembers  its  august  abodes, 
And  murmurs  as  the  ocean  murmurs  there. 

The  Fisher  Boy  is  exhibited  by  Sidney  Brooks,  Esq. 


TJtiK    INDUS  1' It  Y    OK    ALL  NATIONS*. 


The  group  of  sculpture  with  which  this  page  com-  i  entitled  Hagar  ani>  Isiimael,  and  the  circumstances  of 
niences.  is  exhibited  by  1..  Caselij,  of  Florence.    It  is  |  the  scene  chosen  by  the  artist,  are  well  known  in  the 


simple  narrative  of  the  Scriptures.  The  bov,  weary  and 
exhausted  by  unaccustomed  hardships,  haa  sunk  down  in 


the  desert  to  die;  but  Hagar,  sustained  by  the  measure-  I  form  of  her  son, .and  seeming  to  have  just  put  aside  the  |  gazes  upon  his  face,  while  in  her  own,  hope  still  lingers, 
less  affection  of  a  mother's  heart,  supports  the  fainting  |  cup  now  drained  of  its  last,  precious  drops  of  water,  she  j  before  yielding  to  the  unutterable  anguish  of  despair. 


In  the  manufacture  of  carriages  our  countrymen  have 
sueceoded  better  than  any  other  nation,  in  combining  the 
essential  qualities  of  lightness,  beauty,  and  strengt  h.  The 


large  and  elaborately  finished  Pleasure  Carriage,  en- 
graved here,  comes  from  the  manufactory  of  Messrs. 
Lawrence  <fe  Bradley,  of  New  llaven,  Conn.    It  is  lined 
92 


with  blue  velvet,  and  in  construction  and  finish,  sustains 
the  reputation  acquired  by  the  manufacturers  of  that 

city. 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


In  the  American  department  of  the  Exhibition,  we 
have  been  agreeably  surprised  to  find  a  number  of  pieces 
of  ornamental  furniture  of  large  size,  which,  in  design 


and  elaborate  and  excellent  workmanship,  are  entirely   true  that  many,  and  perhaps  all  of  these,  have  been  in- 
creditable  to  the  exhibitors,  and  compare  on  equal  terms   debtcil  to  persons    not  American  born  for  the  artistic 
pith  the  productions  of  foreign  manufactories.     It  is   designs,  if  not  for  their  execution  ;  but  we  may  partly 


claim  the  talent  which  is  naturalised  among  us,  and  the 
fact  that  such  costly  and  beautiful  articles  are  executed 
at  all,  shows  that  there  is  a  progressive  development 


of  taste  in  the  minds  of  our  citizens,  corresponding  to 
their  increasing  wealth.  The  Etagere,  which  has  served 
as  the  occasion  of  these  remarks  is  carved  in  rosewood. 


It  is  exhibited  by  T.  Brooks,  of  Brooklyn,  X.  Y.  It  was 
designed  by  G.  Herter,  New-York,  of  whose  artistic  de- 
signs we  shall  soon  have  occasion  to  speak  again. 


We  engrave  the  Citt  Hose  Carriage,  No.  8.  built  by 
Pine  &  Hartshorn.  About  a  score  of  the  mechanics  of 
Xew-York,  whose  names  are  set  forth  on  the  attached 


card  as  having  aided  in  designing,  constructing,  or  de- 
corating this  beautiful  carriage,  we  have  not  room  to 
enumerate  here;  and  still  less  have  we  space  to  describe 

93 


the  details  of  their  admirable  work,  well  shown  in  our 
engraving.  The  carriage  is  an  ornament  to  the  city,  and 
an  honor  to  the  company. 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


We  introduce  this  page  with  three  illustrations  of 
ivory  carved  work,  a  branch  of  art  manufacture  which 
is  cultivated  with  success  in  many  places  on  the  Conti- 
nent   These  specimens  come  from  Darmstadt,  and  are 


The  remaining  illustrations  of  this  page,  and  two 
which  commence  the  opposite  one,  have  been  selected 
from  the  contributions  of  Messrs  John  Rose  <fe  Co.,  the 
eminent  manufacturers  of  Coalbrook  Dale,  Shropshire. 


equally  appear.  We  heartily  wish  that  this  fine  ma- 
terial (Parian)  had  been  altogether  confined  to  purely 


tionablc.  The  fine  granular  surface  of  Parian  has  a  posi- 
tive attraction  for  dirt,  and  we  like  not  to  be  compelled 


contributed  by  J.  H.  Friedrioh.  They  are  two  Tankards 
and  a  Cup,  all  of  them  lined  with  brass,  and  thus  adapted 
to  use.  The  carving  is  executed  with  spirit  and  fidelity. 
The  tankard  on  the  left  represents  a  forest  with  deer ; 


The  Porcelain  Vase  on  the  left  we  can  notice  only  to 
condemn.  It  is  a  deliberate  violation  of  those  princi- 
ples of  decorative  art  which  have  been  arrived  at  by  the 
experience  of  ages  in  ceramic  manufactures.     It  could 


the  one  opposite,  a  stag-hunt,  with  the  noble  animal  at 
bay ;  and  the  cup  bears  an  Alpine  declivity,  with  its 
tall  firs  and  a  herd  of  chamois. 


only  be  tolerated  by  those  who  prefer  novelty  to  beauty 
of  form,  fitness,  and  every  other  merit 

A  small  Parian  Bracket,  which  follows,  in  the  Raffael- 
esque  style,  is  a  work  in  which  beauty  and  propriety 


ornamental  objects  like  this,  in  which  it  admirably  ful- 
fils every  requirement,  instead  of  being  misapplied  to 


ordinary  table  furniture,  as  has  been  done  in  the  Tea 
Service,  which,  except  for  this  fault,  would  be  unexcep- 


to  remember  the  inevitable  impurities  of  Parian  tea-cups, 
butter-dishes,  and  beer-jugs,  in  connection  with  the  di- 
94 


vine  creations  of  art,  fitly  enshrined  in  the  same  ma 

terial. 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


The  beautiful  porcelain  vase,  called  the  Queen's  Pat- 
tern Vase,  is  modelled  after  the  origiual  in  the  posses- 


sion of  her  majesty.  It  is  entirely  creditable  to  the 
taste  and  skill  of  the  manufacturers,  and  forms  one  of 


Andrea  Bont,  of  Milan,  many  of  whose  productions  |  have  been  already  noticed  in  the  Record,  exhibits 


the  Chimney  Piece  in  terracotta,  noticeable  for  good  work-  |  manship  and  general  excellence  of  design. 

95 


the  chief  attractions  in  the  display  of  Messrs.  Rose. 


The  two  small  Statuettes  in  Parian,  and  the  Pitcher 


and  Candlestick  in  the  same  material,  are  exhibited  by 


Messrs.  T.  <fe  R.  Boote,  of  Burslem,  Staffordshire. 


THE 


INDUSTRY    OF    A  I.  I.  NATIONS. 


Messrs.  W.  &  J.  SA-vtisrKR,  l&gentstreet,  London,  have 
achieved  hihI  merited  u  reputation  tor  the  cxeelleuee  of 
their  l'arnsols  and  Umbrellas.     A  prize  medal  awarded  at 


the  Exhibition  of  1851,  testifies  to  their  merit.  We 
are,  however,  only  concerned  with  the  ornamental 
part  of  their  productions — the  Carved  Ivoky  Hanoles, 
of  which    we  engrave  four,   ou    this  and  the  op- 


posite page.  Many  of  these  are  grotesque  and  amus- 
ing, and  all  evince  much  taste,  and  are  well  sculp- 
tured. 

Other  examples  of  good  taste  and  excellent  carv- 


ing,  are  presented  in  the  two  Fire  Screens,  illus- 
trated on  these  pages  of  the  Record.  They  are 
contributed  by  Jkremiau  Fox,  wood  carver,  of  Lynn, 


England.  The  stands  and  frames  are  highly  ornament- 
al, and  the  screens  are  in  Berlin  worsted  work. 

A  massive  Chair  for  the  library  is  exhibited  by 


G.  Zora,  of  Turin,  Sardinia.  The  decorations  are  in 
the  Grecian  style,  and  are  almost  entirely  overlaid 
with  gilding.     It  has  a  very  rich  appearance. 


The  remaining  four  illustrations  of  those  pages  repre- 
sent  the  contributions  of  Pierre  Adrikn  Graillon,  of 
Dieppe  (Seine  Jnferieurc).   They  arc  placed  in  the  Exhi- 


THE    NEW-YOKK    EXHIBITION    ILLUSTH  A  T  K  D  . 


bition  near  the  Sevres  porcelain,  and  they  are  worthy  cotta,  simple  as  they  are,  and  representing  only  French 
of  that  honorable  position.    These  groups  in  terra  |  peasants,  exhibit  the  genius  of  the  sculptor,  as  well  as 


high  constructive  skill  and  mastery  over  the  materials  of  art. 
A  few  lumps  of  clay  pass  through  the  transforming  hands  of 


GrailloD,  and  produce  effects,  pathetic  or  humorous,  I  on  canvass.  The  true  artist,  however,  will  make 
which  other  artists   have  perpetuated  in  marble  or  |  himself  felt,  whatever   material  lie  may  choose  in 


which  to  render  his  thoughts,  and  whether  his  efforts  |  rank  among  the  productions  of  high,  or  decorative  art. 


A  particular    account  of  these  groups  which   so  j  well  explain  themselves,  would  be   merely  an  im- 

9T 


pertinence.    We  leave  them  to  the  admiration  of  our  reader 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


The  first  engraving  upon  this  page  represents  a  cir- 
cular plateau  of  porcelain,  exhibited  by  W.  T.  Copeland. 


It  is  designed  for  a  Table  Top.  The  decoration,  which,  can  style.  The  geometric  forms  which  surround  the  cen- 
to some  extent,  has  the  effect  of  a  mosaic,  is  in  the  Etrus-  I  tral  designhave  a  pleasing  effect,  which  is  enhanced  by  the 


contrasts  of  the  primitive  colors  in  which  they  are  executed.  I  by  Francesco  Betti  cannot  be  represented  by  any  en-  I  while  the  richness  and  harmony  of  the  colors,  and  the 
The  exquisite  beauty  of  the  Blorentine  Mosaic  Table,  |  graving.    Scarcely  more  than  form  can  be  thus  given,  |  labor,  skill,  and  refined  taste  employed  in  selecting,  fit- 


ting,  and  polishing  the  immense  number  of  gems  and  I  Among  the  pseudo-gems  in  this  design  we  notice  ame-  I  relating  to  this  interesting  branch  of  art-manufacture, 
ornamental  stonos  of  the  mosaic,  entirely  escape  notice.  |  thyst,  lapis-lazuli,  cornelian,  Ac.    For  further  information  |  we  refer  the  reader  to  our  essay  on  Mosaics. 

98 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


TIDES  AND  TIDE  GAUGES. 

ETERMINATIONS  of  the  phenomena 
of  tides  form  an  important  part  of  the 
system  of  operations  pursued  in  con- 
ducting the  United  States  Coast  Sur- 
vey.   The  extensive  hydrographic  la- 
bors requisite  to  prepare  thorougly  ac- 
curate and  reliable  charts  of  our  sea- 
coast  and  harbors,  would  be  exceeding- 
ly incomplete,  if  a  careful  observation 
and  study  of  the  tides  did  not  make  an 
integral  and  systematic  portion  of  the  plan 
pursued.     Our  coast  presents  a  wide 
diversity  of  tidal  phenomena,  from  the 
overwhelming  rush  of  waters  at  the  northern 
extremity  of  Maine,  to  the  almost  insensible 
wave  at  some  points  of  the  Gulf  Coast ;  from 
the  regular  and  obvious  periodicity  of  New- 
York  Bay  tides,  to  the  single  daily  tides  of 
Cat  Island,  and  the  imperfectly  explained 
tidal  anomalies  of  our  Pacific  Coast.    So  dis- 
similar are  the  characteristics  and  amounts  of 
the  tidal  wave  from  point  to  point  along  our  sea 
margins,  that  observations  require  to  be  multi- 
plied so  as  to  include  not  merely  a  few  pro- 
minent points  along  shore,  but  all  the  impor- 
tant rivers,  roads  and  harbors.    It  would  be 
quite  unsafe  to  interpolate  tidal  characteristics, 
since  each  locality  produces  its  own  special 
modifications  on  the  great  general  tide  wave, 
and  requires  a  particular  determination  of 
its  mean,  greatest  and  least  rise  and  fall  of 
tide,  and  of  its  establishment.  But  as  the  most 
elaborate  tidal  study  cannot  be  given  to  all  har- 
bors or  important  localities,  the  plan  pursued 
is  to  select  some  principal  points  along  the 
coast  for  permanent  tide  stations,  at  which 
regular  observations  are  made  through  several 
years,  so  as  to  give  in  full  detail  the  irregu- 
larities, with  long  intervals,  and  all  the  facts, 
great  or  small,  of  the  tidal  rise  and  fall.  Other 
stations  are  occupied  with  tide  gauges  for 
limited  periods  of  one  or  more  lunations,  either 
in  connection  with  the  sounding  parties  or 
independently,  and  the  tidal  characteristics 
are  thence  deduced  approximately.    A  set 
of  observations  not  covering  at  least  one  complete  lunation,  is  insufficient  for 
a  strictly  reliable  result,  though  sounding  parties  are  sometimes,  especially 
in  hydrographic  reconnaissances,  compelled  to  be  content  with  the  observa- 
tions of  a  few  days,  from  which  the  remainder  of  the  tidal  cycle  is  deduced 
by  reduction  and  discussion,  as  well  as  is  practicable.    Tidal  observations  must,  of 
course,  be  regularly  made  during  all  sounding  operations,  and  the  soundings  must 
in  turn  be  reduced  to  the  standard  plane  of  reference  by  their  aid.    The  level  of 
mean  low  water  as  deduced  from  all  the  observations  made,  is  the  plane  of  refer- 
ence which  is  now  generally  employed,  and  to  which  the  soundings  made  during 
various  periods  of  the  tide  are  reduced.    When  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  near  two 
and  half  millions  of  soundings  have  been  already  made  in  the  Coast  Survey,  the 
immense  labor  of  reducing  all  of  these  to  standard  planes,  and  of  deducing  these 
planes  themselves,  can  be  partly  conceived.    A  casual  inspection  of  the  tide  table 
which  will  be  found  on  each  finished  chart,  gives  but  a  most  inadequate  idea  of 
the  great  amount  of  observation  and  discussion,  which  have  yielded  their  pith  in 
this  laconic  epitome. 

There  is  a  department  of  tidal  discussion  of  far  higher  character  than  the  more 
directly  practical  operations  of  deducing  a  mean  low- water  plane,  and  of  referring 
to  it  the  various  tide  phases,  &c,  in  which  the  construction  of  particular  tide 
tables  consists.  These  higher  discussions  have  for  their  object,  the  analysis  and 
explanation  of  the  phenomena  of  tides  in  different  localities,  by  reference  to  the 
general  physical  theory  of  tides,  and  the  formula  derived  from  it.  Not  only  are 
the  main  tidal  movements  direct  consequences  of  the  inequalities  of  the  solar  and 
lunar  attractions  on  the  different  portions  of  the  oceanic  mass,  but  the  local  traits 
of  tides  are,  to  a  great  extent,  deducible  from  the  application  of  the  general  theory 
to  specific  cases.  Prof.  Bache  has  applied  himself  with  eminent  success  to  this 
class  of  discussions,  and  from  the  seemingly  anomalous  cases  of  single-day  tides 
at  Cat  Island  and  Mobile  Point  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  of  irregular  recurrences 
at  Key  "West,  he  has  derived  a  striking  confirmation  of  the  physical  foundation  on 
which  both  the  equilibrium  and  dynamic  theories  of  tides  ultimately  rest.  By 


assigning  to  the  several  disturbing  causes  their  appropriate  amounts  of  effect,  there 
results  as  shown  in  his  discussions,  a  compound  or  aggregate  effect,  which  coin- 
cides very  closely  throughout  with  the  complex  variations  actually  observed. 
These  discussions,  as  presented  through  proportional  or  expository  curves,  are 
models  of  their  kind,  and  exhibit  the  most  advanced  condition  of  tidal  interpre- 
tation. The  physical  theory  of  tides,  like  all  undulatory  theories,  is  full  of  mathe- 
matical difficulty,  and  demands  a  good  proficiency  in  analysis  even  for  its  com- 
prehension, and  still  more  for  its  expansion;  hence  its  exposition  can  never  be 
both  thorough  and  popular.  To  this  difficulty  inherent  in  the  subject,  we  may 
ascribe  the  not  infrequent  lack  of  faith  in  its  truth  and  completeness,  observable 
in  those  to  whom  thorough  mental  discipline  has  been  denied.  The  complication 
of  physical  elements  entering  the  general  tide  problem,  and  of  local  elements  be- 
longing to  each  case  of  a  harbor,  make  it  quite  impossible  for  any  but  a  well 
trained  mathematical  and  physical  reasoner  to  do  justice  to  a  subject  so  profoundly 
difficult. 

The  usual  method  of  observing  tides  is  by  means  of  a  simple  tide  gauge.  This 
consists  of  a  long  vertical  box,  sunk  to  the  requisite  depth  in  the  water,  and  so  firmly 
attached  to  some  solid  support  as  not  to  be  moved  by  waves  or  other  disturbing 
forces.  A  copper  box  float  made  air  tight,  and  of  a  size  just  to  play  freely  in  the 
long  box,  supports  a  graduated  vertical  staff,  which  rises  and  falls  with  the  float, 
so  as  to  be  read  through  an  accessible  door  in  the  side  of  the  box.  Somo  small 
holes  at  the  bottom  of  the  box  admit  the  water  slowly,  so  as  just  to  neutralize  the 
effect  of  waves  in  causing  oscillation  of  the  float  and  staff.  Hourly  readings  dur- 
ing the  day  and  careful  observations  at  the  times  of  slack  water  are  then  regularly 
made  and  recorded,  notes  being  also  taken  of  the  winds  and  weather.  It  will  be 
seen  that  this  method  is  by  no  means  free  from  objections.  It  only  gives  a 
small  number  of  readings,  leaving  the  remainder  to  be  interpolated.  It  involves 
much  labor  and  watching  in  proportion  to  the  results  attained,  and  readings  are 
not  unfrequently  lost  or  out  of  time,  and  even  in  some  cases  are  not  faithfully 
recorded.  It  involves  many  chances  of  error  in  the  readings  and  records.  The 
observations  near  high  and  low  water,  the  most  critical  and  valuable  of  all,  are 
peculiarly  liable  to  imperfection  as  the  rate  of  rise  and  fall  is  there  so  small.  For 
most  ordinary  purposes,  this  simple  gauge  is  fully  adequate,  if  read  with  care  and 
skill.  But  in  the  refined  and  long-continued  observations  requisite  for  all  thorough 
and  elaborate  discussions,  a  continuous  and  automatic  record  is  highly  desirable, 
if  not  positively  necessary.  Every  tidal  observer  has  not  the  minute  accuracy 
and  great  faithfulness  of  Gustavus  Wurdeman,  to  whom  the  survey  is  so  much 
indebted  for  his  observations  on  the  Gulf  Coast. 

To  serve  this  purpose,  and  to  afford  all  the  advantages  of  a  continuous  and 
self-producing  record,  the  Self-Registering  Tide  Gauge,  of  which  a  specimen 
(U.  S.  C.  S.,  No.  14)  is  exhibited  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  was  devised  and  executed 
by  Mr.  Joseph  Saxton,  the  head  of  the  Instrumental  Department  in  the  Coast  Sur- 
vey Office.  This  gauge  has  been  fully  tested  and  approved  by  the  experience  of 
about  eighteen  months,  in  different  localities  with  several  gauges.  Six  have  been 
distributed  at  stations  along  the  Atlantic  Coast,  and  six  have  been  sent  under  the 


PLAN.  8CALE=$. 

charge  of  Lieut.  W.  P.  Trowbridge,  United  States  Corps  of  Engineers,  and  Assist- 
ant United  States  Coast  Survey,  to  record  the  tidal  variations  at  three  permanent 
and  three  movable  stations  along  our  Pacific  Coast.  In  general  terms,  this  tide 
gauge  is  arranged  so  as  to  record  by  a  clock  movement,  the  ordinate  of  time,  by 
points  pricked  along  the  length  of  a  running  sheet  of  paper,  carried  forward  by 

M 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


the  clock  work,  and  intended  for  one  month's  record.  The  ordinate  of  tide  height 
is  recorded  by  connecting  the  recording  pencil  with  a  freely  moving  float,  and  so 
gearing  down  the  float  motion  as  to  limit  the  pencil  movements  to  within  one 
foot  or  the  width  of  the  sheet.  A  record  curve  results  from  these  two  movements 
which  presents  a  perfect  picture  of  the  daily  tide  waves,  in  a  series  of  maximum 


SIDE  ELEVATION.  SCALE=);. 


and  minimum  heights.  By  applying  a  reading  scale,  the  actual  tide  height  at  any 
moment  can  be  read  off  with  nice  accuracy.  As  we  wish  to  give  thorough  and 
exact  information,  such  as  might  serve  for  the  construction  and  use  of  this  instru- 
ment, we  introduce  the  following  description  and  drawings,  with  practical  direc- 
tions derived  with  slight  modifications  from  official  sources. 

A  float  (F)  rising  and  falling  with  the  tide,  is  connected  by  means  of  a  chain 
or  wire  with  a  pencil  point  (p)  sliding  on  a  straight  guide  (g).  If  a  strip  of  paper  be 
moved  beneath  the  pencil  point  at  a  uniform  rate,  the  line  will  be  divergent  accord- 
ing to  the  rate  of  the  tide,  an cl  if  the  paper  be  marked  at  regular  intervals  by  the 
mechanism  which  impels  it,  the  continuous  curved  line  traced  by  the  pencil  will 
represent  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  tide,  so  that  the  time  and  height  may  be  accurately 
found  at  any  instant.  The  particulars  of  the  application  of  this  principle  are  as 
follows : — The  float  and  wire  are  protected  from  the  action  of  the  waves  and  cur- 
rents by  a  tube  which  admits  the  water  freely  without  allowing  oscillation.  The 
float  is  attached  to  a  fine  wire  or  chain,  which  connects  it  with  the  wheel  (w) 
upon  the  circumference  of  which  it  winds,  and  another  small  chain  continues  from 
the  small  pulley  (w')  on  the  same  shaft,  and  passing  over  the  friction  roller  (r)  is 
hooked  to  the  pencil  frame.  This  small  pulley  reduces  the  play  of  the  pencil 
to  prevent  an  inconvenient  width  of  paper,  and  is  regulated  by  the  amount  of 
rise  and  fall  of  the  tide. 

To  the  other  end  of  the  pencil  frame  is  attached  a  counterpoise  (w")  passing 
over  a  roller  in  the  same  manner.  This  weight  causes  the  pencil  to  return  as  the 
float  rises.  The  recording  paper,  being  then  wound  compactly  and  accurately 
upon  the  cylinder  (R),  passes  beneath  the  pencil  point  and  over  the  impelling  cylinder 
(R2)  geared  to  the  hour  wheel  of  a  time-keeper.  This  cylinder  has  at  its  ex- 
tremities, and  with  one  foot  interval,  two  circles  of  twenty-four  equidistant  conical 
points  to  each,  arranged  on  its  circumference,  and  as  it  revolves  once  in  twelve 
hours,  the  points  successively  pierce  and  leave  the  paper  at  intervals  of  half  an 
hour,  at  the  same  time  that  the  paper  passes  over,  and  is  re-wrapped  upon  tho 


cylinder  (R4).  To  insure  the  entrance  of  the  points,  a  small  roller  (R>)  rests  upon 
the  impelling  cylinder,  and  prevents  the  paper  from  being  lifted.  The  roller  is 
grooved  near  the  extremities,  so  that  the  conical  points  may  not  come  in  contact, 
with  the  wood.  The  cylinder  (R4)  is  urged  forward  by  the  weight  E',  and  the 
cylinder  R  is  held  back  by  the  smaller  weight  E,  so  that  the  paper  may  con- 
stantly be  kept  well  stretched.  The  excess  of  the  weight  E'  over  E  is  sufficient  to 
overcome  the  friction  of  the  system  of  rollers,  so  that  tho  clock  has  merely  to  regu- 
late time.  Upon  the  axle  of  the  impelling  cylinder  is  a  clamp  screw  (S),  by 
which  it  may  be  detached  from  the  clock.  To  put  the  machinery  in  motion,  the 
pencil  and  one  of  the  conical  points  being  brought  accurately  in  the  same  vertical 
line  at  any  exact  hour,  the  cylinder  is  then  fastened  to  the  clock  by  means  of 
the  clamp  screw,  when,  as  it  moves  with  the  clock,  it  completes  a  revolution  in 
twelve  hours ;  the  conical  points  will  consequently  mark  exact  hours  and  half 
hours,  whilst  the  line  traced  by  the  pencil  will  show  the  corresponding  heights  of 
the  tidos  according  to  the  scale  to  which  the  machine  is  adjusted. 

The  following  points  require  attention  in  adjusting  this  gauge  : — I.  The  coun- 
terpoise should  be  rather  more  than  sufficient  to  balance  the  chain  or  wire,  taken 
as  they  will  be,  at  lowest  tide.  The  strain  upon  the  pencil  is  very  slight,  but 
when  the  rise  and  fall  is  great,  the  chain  or  wire  should  be  as  fine  as  possible 
that  the  counterpoise  may  not  be  inconveniently  heavy.  II.  The  chain  or  wire 
to  which  the  float  is  attached,  should  be  so  adjusted  upon  the  large  wheel 
that  the  curve  of  rise  and  fall  will  be  traced  on  the  paper  midway  between  the 
lines  of  dots.  One  or  two  days'  trial  will  locate  this  curve  of  rise  and  fall  suffi- 
ciently well  for  the  chain  or  wire  to  be  permanently  pinned.  III.  A  conical 
point  should  be  brought  accurately  in  aline  with  the  pencil,  and  the  clock  started 
at  an  exact  hour  or  half  hour.  IV.  That  the  gauge  may  be  disturbed  as  little  as 
possible,  at  least  one  full  month's  supply  of  paper  should  be  wound  upon  the 
receiving  cylinder  at  the  beginning  of  the  month. 

To  guard  against  accidental  disturbances  and  jars,  the  structure  upon  which 


REAR  KLEVATION.  80ALE=;. 


tho  gauge  is  erected  should  be  as  firm  as  possible.  The  superstructure  for  protec- 
tion against  the  weather  and  other  disturbing  causes,  need  only  be  large  enough 
to  allow  free  access  for  attendance  on  the  gauge.  The  box  for  containing  the 
float  should  be  water  tight,  below  water,  except  an  adjustable  orifice,  which  may 
be  made  by  a  series  of  holes  about  an  eighth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  covered  in 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


part  by  a  slide,  and  it  should  extend  up  to  the  floor  on  which  the  gauge  rests,  that  the 
free  action  of  the  float  and  its  connecting  wire  or  chain  may  not  be  endangered  by 
obstructions  falling  into  the  box.  Having  so  adjusted  the  wire  or  chain  as  to  give  the 
midway  position  on  the  paper  to  the  record  curve,  particular  care  should  be  taken  to 
prevent  its  being  altered,  since  any  change  in  its  length  or  points  of  attachment  to  the 
wheel  will  vary  the  relation  of  the  record  curve  to  the  permanent  Zero.  All  gauge 
records  should  be  carefully  referred  to  some  permanent  Zero,  or  bench  mark  well 
cut  into  the  stone,  or  reference  mass,  and  this  Zero  or  bench  mark  should  be  fully 
and  precisely  described  in  the  file  of  tide  records,  as  also  all  changes  in  the  mark 
and  in  the  Zero  of  the  gauge  itself,  as  referred  to  the  mark.  A  common  staff 
guage  should  always  be  erected  in  connection  with  a  self-registering  gauge,  and 
as  near  by  as  convenient ;  it  being  then  simply  necessary  to  obtain  by  careful 
levelling,  the  reading  of  the  bench  mark  on  the  staff,  when  it  reads  Zero  at  its 
own  reading  level,  and  then  to  compare  the  simultaneous  indications  of  the  two 
gauges,  for  the  starting  point  of  the  record  curve  readings.  These  gauges  should 
have  such  positions  as  to  receive  the  full  effect  of  the  tide,  and  when  from  freez- 
ing or  other  causes  the  registering  gauge  ceases  to  work,  the  staff  gauge  must 
be  used  for  hourly  and  high  and  low  water  observations  in  the  usual  manner.  The 
record  sheet  should  always  bear  upon  it  the  names  of  the  station  and  observer, 
the  number  and  scale  of  the  gauge,  the  dates  of  beginning  and  end  of  the 
record,  the  12  M.  dot  of  each  fifth  day  clearly  dated,  and  full  notes  of  the  time  and 
causes  of  all  breaks  in  the  record,  and  of  all  new  starts,  with  the  interpolated 
staff  guage  readings  during  the  record  gaps. 

After  taking  these  precautions  and  getting  the  instrument  well  started,  each 
Coast  Survey  Observer  is  required  to  visit  his  station  every  day  until  he  is  sure 
all  is  going  right,  when  it  is  deemed  sufficient  for  him  ordinarily  to  visit  it  every 
other  day,  observing  the  following  directions.  "1.  The  steel  rod  to  which  the 
recording  pencil  is  attached,  should  always  be  kept  perfectly  clean  and  free  from 
rust ;  for  this  purpose  it  may  be  rubbed  with  oiled  cloths  every  week,  care  being 
taken  that  no  oil  be  left  on  the  rod,  or  allowed  in  any  way  to  touch  the  arms 
which  support  the  pencil  resting  upon  it.  2.  If  in  consequence  of  a  continuation 
of  storms,  the  tide  should  fall  so  low  as  to  render  the  counterpoise  insufficient  to 
keep  the  chain  well  stretched,  a  small  additional  weight  may  be  added.  When 
the  rise  and  fall  is  great,  or  very  much  influenced  by  the  winds,  this  may  some- 
times be  necessary  ;  but  as  there  is  little  strain  upon  the  pencil,  the  person  locating 
the  gauge  should  in  the  first  place,  make  the  counterpoise  sufficient  to  embrace 
all  but  very  extraordinary  tides.  Proper  attention  to  the  two  foregoing  para- 
graphs will  insure  an  unobstructed  motion  of  the  pencil.  3.  The  clock  should  be 
made  to  keep  mean  solar  time,  being  corrected  to  this  effect,  whenever  it  is  neces- 
sary, by  a  sun-dial  or  a  meridian  mark  with  the  equation  of  time  applied,  or  by 
such  other  means  as  may  be  found  available.  4.  Should  the  clock  become  disor- 
dered, it  is  not  desirable  for  the  observer  to  disturb  its  mechanism.  Timely 
notice  may  always  be  given  to  the  assistant  in  charge  of  the  office  when  any  re- 
pairs are  needed.  5.  The  clock  should  never  be  stopped  unless  from  absolute 
necessity,  or  from  some  unavoidable  accident.  "Whenever  it  is  so  stopped,  the 
time  and  corresponding  hour  dot  upon  the  paper  should  be  distinctly  marked. 
"When  it  is  again  set  in  motion,  the  first  hour  dot,  together  with  the  corresponding 
time,  should  be  noted  in  like  manner.  6.  The  hour  dot  corresponding  to  12 
o'clock  M.,  upon  the  fifth  day  of  every  month  should  be  marked.  The  observer's 
attention  is  particularly  called  to  the  last  two  paragraphs.  A  failure  to  comply 
with  them  will  cause  much  confusion,  and  must  inevitably  be  detected  when  the 
record  sheets  are  sent  to  the  office.  7  The  sides  of  the  sheet  corresponding 
to  the  high  and  low  water  should  be  marked  respectively,  H.  W.  &  L.  W.,  at  the 
beginning  and  end  of  the  month.  8.  When  it  is  necessary  to  change  the  paper  at 
the  beginning  of  the  month,  this  should  be  done  without  stopping  the  clock,  and 
not  near  the  time  of  high  or  low  water.  The  time  corresponding  to  the  first 
hour  dot  after  the  paper  is  changed,  should  of  course  be  marked.  9.  The  records 
sent  to  the  office  should  bear  the  observer's  name  and  the  number  of  the  gauge. 
This  number,  together  with  the  scale,  is  branded  on  the  instrument.  10.  In  case 
the  clock  stops  and  cannot  at  once  be  started,  observations  with  the  staff  gauge 
of  the  time  and  height  of  high  and  low  water  must  be  made  by  the  observer,  and 
recorded  on  the  registering  sheet,  with  the  date  and  reason  for  making  the  note. 
11.  When  any  such  difficulty  occurs,  the  observer  will  in  all  cases  telegraph  to 
the  office." 

The  record  sheets  are  read  in  the  office  by  the  aid  of  a  special  table,  the  sheet 
being  run  between  two  overlapping  guides  and  under  a  reading  scale  fixed  trans- 
versely. A  small  transparent  scale  of  radiating  lines  is  used  for  subdividing  the 
half  hours,  thus  giving  the  means  of  very  close  readings  about  the  high  and  low 
waters. 

In  reviewing  this  description,  it  will  be  apparent  that  this  instrument  requires 
care  and  skill  on  the  part  of  its  attendant,  but  that  with  these  its  records  must  be 
of  the  most  perfect  kind.  Such  is  the  fact,  and  numerous  record  sheets  already 
give  perfect  pictures  of  a  month's  tides  which  are  very  suggestive  of  the  varying 
elements  concurring  in  their  production.  Curve  records  are  much  easier  to  inter- 
pret than  numerical  readings,  for  the  natural  continuity  is  presented  to  the  eye. 
The  record  curves  are  also  much  more  delicate  exhibitors  of  minute  quantities 


than  the  simple  gauge  readings.  On  the  whole,  the  introduction  of  automatic 
tidal  records  cannot  fail  to  promote  a  critical  study  of  tides,  besides  saving  the 
drudgery  of  mere  unintelligent  watching  for  the  hours. 

Self-registering  tide  gauges  have  been  for  some  years  in  successful  use  at  some 
of  the  British  tide  stations,  and  Mr.  Saxton's  machine  is  not  original  in  its  general 
idea.  It  is,  however,  exceedingly  perfect  in  its  details  and  nice  in  its  operations, 
with  several  important  points  of  originality,  especially  in  the  arrangements  for 
using  a  long  record  sheet  and  for  marking  the  time  on  it.  These  reasons  well 
entitle  it  to  a  pre-eminence  greater  than  we  have  given  it,  a  pre-eminence  which 
we  anticipate  it  will  fully  vindicate  by  its  prospective  share  in  the  work  of  eluci- 
dating the  tides  of  our  two  ocean  borders. 


GOVERNMENT  SCHOOLS  OF  ORNAMENTAL  ART  IN  ENGLAND. 

ALL  countries  whose  industrial  pursuits  have  arrived  at  that  point  at  which  they 
are  enabled  to  supply  the  necessaries  of  life,  seek  in  any  further  development  to 
add  the  ornamental  element  to  that  of  utility.  To  do  this  successfully,  art-edu- 
cation is  required,  not  merely  that  of  the  designer  or  originator  of  the  forms  to  be 
wrought  out,  but  also  of  the  workman,  by  whose  skill  it  is  to  he  fashioned,  and 
by  whose  intelligence  or  ignorance  it  is  to  be  made  or  marred,  in  regard  to  the 
higher  qualities  of  art. 

It  is  only  within  the  last  twenty  years  that  attention  has  been  practically 
directed  to  the  importance  of  education  as  applied  to  art-manufacture  in 
Great  Britain,  and  institutions  founded  in  which  the  artisan,  as  well  as  the 
artist,  may  obtain  systematic  instruction  in  the  principles  and  practice  of  art  as 
applied  to  his  particular  pursuit.  Nor  has  this  latter  point  been  sufficiently  at- 
tended to  until  very  recently,  and  perhaps,  even  now,  there  is  much  more  to  be 
done  than  has  been  imagined.  Under  the  singular  misfloiner  of  schools  of  design,* 
the  early  promoters  of  the  institutions  whose  title  has  been  lately  changed  to  that 
of  schools  of  Ornamental  Art,  proceeded  to  take  the  initiative  in  a  system,  which 
properly  carried  out,  was  calculated  to  produce  results  of  the  most  satisfactory 
character,  and  even  with  all  the  mistakes,  blunders,  and  perversions  to  which  these 
schools  have  been  subjected,  has  done  more  than  could  have  been  expected. 

Convinced  of  the  importance  of  such  institutions  to  the  future  well-being  of  the 
manufacturing  interests  of  England,  as  well  as  the  advancement  of  the  people  in  a 
higher  grade  of  intelligence,  a  few  earnest  men,  at  the  head  of  whom  stood  Mr.  W. 
Ewart,  then  M.  P.  for  Liverpool,  obtained  the  appointment  of  a  parliamentary  com- 
mittee on  "arts  and  manufactures."  This  committee  sat,  and  examined  witnesses, 
amongst  whom  were  men  the  most  eminent  in  Europe  for  scientific  and  artistic  at- 
tainments, manufacturing  skill,  and  commercial  knowledge.  They  finally  reported  in 
1836,  that  measures  for  the  promotion  of  artistic  education  amongst  the  manufacturing 
classes  ought  to  be  at  once  taken,  and  that  the  government  ought  to  assist  by  grants  of 
public  money  and  the  organization  of  a  central  establishment  in  London.  Accord- 
ingly the  Government  School  of  Design,  Somerset  House,  was  founded  for  the  pro- 
motion of  the  latter  object,  and  as  a  model  establishment.  A  council  of  gentlemen, 
all  of  whom  were  eminent  either  as  patrons  of  art,  artists,  men  of  science,  or  manu- 
facturers, was  appointed  by  the  Board  of  Trade,  under  which  the  experiment  was 
to  be  carried  out,  and  a  sum  of  money  having  been  granted,  with  the  free  use  of  the 
rooms  formerly  occupied  by  the  Royal  Academy,  the  new  institution  commenced  its 
career.  Its  progress  was  very  slow.  The  title  of  the  institution  perplexed  matter- 
of-fact-people,  and  it  was  supposed  that  none  could  attend  but  those  who  had 
previously  learned  drawing;  and  that  its  object  was  to  teach  those  who 
could  draw  already,  to  design.  The  establishment  of  a  school  in  Spitalfields,  the 
first  branch  establishment,  did  much  to  make  the  matter  better  understood — inas- 
much as  it  took  the  weaver  from  his  loom,  an:',  the  youngest  boy  who  assisted  f\un, 
and  proposed  to  teach  them  drawing  as  applied  to  the  silk  manufacture,  nt>t  so 
much  with  the  expectation  of  making  designers  of  them,  as  to  make  them  more 
intelligent  and  reliable  workmen  in  the  execution  of  the  designs  of  others.  Stim- 
ulated by  the  movement  in  London,  a  few  leading  men  at  Manchester  took  up  the 
question,  and  established  a  school  in  that  city,  not,  however,  in  connection  with 
the  government,  but  as  a  local  experiment.  Here  the  instruction  had  no  reference 
whatever  to  industry.  It  was  simply  a  cheap  academy  of  art  in  its  more  general 
forms  of  study,  and  the  student  was  left  to  apply  his  knowledge,  or  blunder  in  his 
ignorance  as  he  might,  when  desiring  to  apply  his  art  to  practical  purposes  in 
manufactures.  Of  course  this  system  failed,  and  the  school  at  Manchester  event- 
ually became  one  of  the  government  schools  subsequently  established  in  the  great 
provincial  towns. 

The  progress  of  the  school  at  Somerset  House,  under  Mi-.  Dyce,  appointed 


*  The  founders  of  the  English  schools  took  the  French  title,  "Saile  de  Desain,"  and  translating  it 
literally,  forgot  that  in  English  ''design  "  meant  much  more  than  "dessin"in  French.  By  designing  is 
really  meant  originating. 

101 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


director  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Papworth,  who  was  first  selected,  caused 
the  Board  of  Trade  to  sanction  a  plan  for  establishing  schools  in  all  the  large  man- 
ufacturing towns  and  districts  in  England.  Scotland  had  been  provided  for  many 
years  before  by  the  establishment  of  the  Trustees'  School,  at  Edinburgh.  This 
institution  is  supported  by  an  income  decreed  from  the  investment  of  certain 
property  confiscated  at  the  rebellion  of  1745,  and  vested  by  the  English  govern- 
ment in  the  hands  of  trustees  for  "  the  promotion  and  encouragement  of  arts  and 
manufactures  in  Scotland."  The  school  is  probably  the  oldest  school  of  design, 
using  the  latter  term  in  the  popular  sense,  in  Europe  ;  but  prior  to  a  change  which 
was  made  after  the  movement  commenced  in  England,  it  had  done  less  for  the 
manufacturing  arts,  than  for  the  department  of  fine  arts  ;  nor  can  this  be  regretted, 
since  Wilkie,  Stanfield,  Roberts,  Dyce,  and  many  others  of  the  leading  artists  in 
Britain,  received  their  professional  education  within  its  walls.  The  last-named 
gentleman,  now  W.  Dyce,  Esq.,  Royal  Academician,  was  for  a  period  one  of  the 
professors,  and  was  selected  to  visit  the  schools  of  art  in  France  and  Germany,  and 
report  to  the  government  thereon.  This  report,  an  admirable  document,  formed 
the  basis  on  which  it  was  proposed  to  erect  the  English  system.  Its  author  was 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  schools,  and  his  knowledge  of  his  subject,  his  experience 
and  attainments  ought  to  have  secured  for  his  plans  a  fair  trial.  Such,  however, 
was  not  the  result.  Attempts  were  made,  and  in  many  instances  successfully,  to 
hamper  the  working  of  an  enlightened  system  of  art-education  with  absurd  re- 
strictions, to  suit  the  narrow  views  of  professional  artists  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
equally  mistaken  notions  of  manufacturers  on  the  other.  No  one  seemed  to  see 
that  to  make  the  artisan,  and  especially  the  designer,  really  useful  to  himself  and 
others,  it  would  be  a  waste  of  time  to  keep  him  down  simply  to  the  points  of 
practice  he  had  to  grapple  with,  and  that  to  do  a  thing  thoroughly  well  in  art,  the 
power  to  do  much  more  than  the  immediate  work  is  necessary.  If  progress  is  to 
be  made  beyond  a  given  point,  this  becomes  pre-eminently  imperative. 

A  parliamentary  grant  of  about  £5,000  per  annum  having  been  made,  together 
with  a  grant  of  £10,000,  to  purchase  examples  of  art  for  the  use  of  the  schools, 
those  cities  and  towns  the  inhabitants  of  which  desired  the  establishment  of  schools, 
applied  to  the  council  in  London.  If  the  place  was  of  sufficient  importance  as  a 
seat  of  manufactures,  and  the  inhabitants,  or  the  committee  or  corporation  acting 
for  them,  guaranteed  to  raise,  by  subscription,  a  sum  per  annum,  equal  to  the 
amount  of  the  government  grant,  which  the  estimated  cost  of  the  school  seemed 
to  indicate  as  desirable,  the  latter  grant  was  made  for  three  years  as  an  experi- 
ment, and  in  no  instance  has  it  been  subsequently  withdrawn.    On  the  contrary, 
the  grants  have  been  increased  in  the  case  of  the  larger  and  more  important 
towns  to  three  times  the  original  sum,  while  in  too  many  instances,  the  local 
support  has  not  been  equal  to  the  sums  raised  at  the  commencement.    This  pro- 
vision of  pecuniary  means,  however,  did  not  meet  the  whole  question.    In  the 
midst  of  so  many  artists,  there  were  very  few  competent  to  undertake  the  man- 
agement of  the  schools,  who  were  also  willing  to  submit  to  the  drudgery  and  toil, 
and  too  frequently  uncertain  results.    Art,  as  applied  to  manufacture,  had  to  be 
made  popular,  not  only  with  the  public,  but  with  the  artist.  Every  man  who  could 
paint  a  picture,  or  model  a  statue,  considered  it  "  infra  dignitatem  "  to  meddle  with 
the  utilities  of  life,  unless  "high  art,"  as  it  was  called  par  excellence,  could  be  im- 
ported wholesale  into  decoration  and  manufacture.    Haydon,  a  clever  painter, 
and  a  lecturer  of  singular  power,  one  who  did  much  to  promote  the  present  popular 
taste  for  the  fine  arts  in  Britain,  by  his  able  exposition  of  principles,  took  a  pervert- 
ed view  of  this  question  from  the  beginning.  The  early  system  pursued  at  Manches- 
ter was  adopted  at  his  suggestion,  and  he  lived  to  see  it  fail  most  signally,  though 
he  still  adhered  to  his  doctrine,  that  if  a  student  could  draw  and  design  the  hu- 
man figure,  he  could  draw  and  design  any  thing.     Of  this  fallacy  he  was  himself 
an  example  :  for  with  wonderful  power  in  the  former,  he  failed  whenever  he 
attempted  any  thing  approaching  to  ornamentation  in  its  best  forms  as  applied  to 
the  utilities  of  life.    Thus  it  became  evident  that  teachers  must  be  first  educated 
before  the  public  could  be  taught,  and  by  Mr.  Dyce's  advice,  a  normal  class  was 
formed  in  1841,  in  the  Central  School  at  Somerset  House,  and  six  exhibitions  of 
£30  per  annum  each  were  offered  to  the  six  best  students  who  were  willing  to  devote 
their  future  professional  attention  to  the  schools  as  masters.    The  masters  of  the 
provincial  schools  first  established  were  selected  from  this  class.    It  was  soon  dis- 
covered, however,  that  an  unpaid  and  irresponsible  body,  like  the  council  of  the 
Metropolitan  School,  could  not  work  a  great  and  practical  question  like  this  with 
success.    Out  of  twenty-four  numbers,  very  few  attended  regularly,  and  the  man- 
agement fell  into  the  hands  of  some  two  or  three  of  the  most  energetic,  whose 
personal  predilections  and  crotchets  rather  than  sound  principles  ruled  the 
management.    With  Mr.  Dyce's  resignation  in  1843,  commenced  a  series  of  changes 
which  ended  last  year  in  the  consolidation  of  the  whole  management  into  a  new 
department  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  now  finally  constituted  as  the  Department  of 
Practical  Science  and  Art:  Henry  Cole,  Esq.,  0.  B.,  and  Dr.  Lyon  Playfair, 
C.  B.,  F.  R.  S.,  being  the  responsible  officers. 

The  radical  defect  of  the  system  attempted  subsequent  to  Mr.  Dyce's  director- 
ship, was  an  unmeaning  centralization  of  power,  and  dictatorial  tone  as  to  the 
system,  or  rather  modes  of  applying  the  system  of  education,  on  which  all  were 
pretty  well  agreed,  irrespective  of  the  wants  and  peculiarities  of  the  various  man- 


ufactures and  local  requirements.    Mr.  Dyce's  successor  was  Mr.  O.  H.  'Wilson 
(now  head-master  of  the  Glasgow  School),  a  gentleman  possessing  many  of  the 
requisites  for  the  office,  and  whose  long  residence  in  Italy,  and  subsequent  experience 
as  a  teacher  in  the  Trustees'  School  at  Edinburgh,  gave  him  many  advantages. 
Unfortunately,  there  appeared  little  fixity  of  principle  in  the  modes  in  which  the 
schools  were  henceforth  to  be  conducted.    Changes  were  made,  or  attempted  to 
be  made  in  the  provincial  schools,  because  they  were  supposed  to  be  required  by 
the  circumstances  of  the  head  school,  the  success  of  which  under  repeated  altera- 
tions was  rather  problematical.    At  length  this  spirit  of  dictation  and  unmeaning 
direction  was  resisted  in  one  of  the  most  important  and  successful  schools,  that  of 
Manchester.    The  head-master,  Mr.  George  Wallis,*  remonstrated  against  im- 
politic changes  in  regard  to  the  school  over  which  he  presided,  and  which  had 
progressed  in  an  unexampled  manner  during  the  two  years  he  had  managed  it. 
Its  success  Mr.  "Wallis  felt    ought  not  to  be  endangered  by  alterations  in 
the  system  of  instruction,  which  had  no  real  reference  to  the  wants  of  the  pupils, 
and  which  abnegated  the  necessity  for  teaching  anatomy  as  the  basis  of  drawing 
the  human  figure.    The  ground  now  taken  was  firmly  kept,  until,  by  the  yielding 
of  the  Manchester  committee,  Mr.  Wallis  found  he  could  not  retain  his  post  with 
honor  to  himself  or  advantage  to  his  students,  and  he  thereupon  resigned  his  posi- 
tion in  a  somewhat  indignant  fashion ;  for  he  resorted  to  the  very  unofficial  mode  of 
informing  the  public  of  the  whole  circumstances  of  the  case,  defended  his  own 
views,  stated  why  he  resigned,  and  worst  of  all,  foretold  the  results  to  the  insti- 
tution, and  all  others  which  were  subjected  to  the  same  law  of  misrule.  For 
three  years  subsequently,  the  Manchester  School  fell  in  usefulness  and  popularity, 
and  but  for  a  large  increase  in  the  government  grant,  must  have  become  bank- 
rupt.   It  was  only  on  a  recurrence  of  the  former  modes  of  management  and 
principles  of  instruction,  together  with  the  appointment  of  the  present  head-master 
Mr.  Hamersley,  whose  success  at  Nottingham  pointed  him  out  for  promotion,  and 
as  the  most  likely  man  to  redeem  the  important  school  of  the  cotton  metropolis, 
that  the  classes  rallied  in  numbers,  and  became  once  more  successful,  and  this 
too  in  the  face  of  a  debt  accumulated  during  the  emasculating  process,  which 
changed  a  large  balance  at  the  bank  into  a  considerable  liability  on  the  other 
side. 

Nor  was  it  long  before  the  system,  against  which  such  "  heavy  blows  and 
great  discouragements"  had  been  hurled  from  Manchester,  began  to  shake  at 
head  quarters.  Mr.  Herbert,  R.  A.,  a  most  eminent  artist  and  successful  teacher  of 
the  figure,  resigned  his  appointment,  and  indignantly  repudiated  the  management. 
In  the  end,  after  some  eighteen  months  of  uncertainty  and  inquiry,  the  Council  at 
Somerset  House  was  abolished,  and  a  Commissioner  of  the  Board  of  Trade  was 
appointed  to  superintend  the  general  management  of  the  schools,  while  three  emi- 
nent artists  were  appointed  to  the  entire  direction  of  the  educational  department 
These  were  Mr.  Herbert,  R.  A.,  Mr.  Redgrave,  R.  A.,  and  Mr.  J.  H.  Townsend. 
Mr.  Wilson,  the  late  Director,  took  the  superintendence  and  inspection  of  the  Pro- 
vincial Schools ;  but  this  arrangement  existed  only  for  a  short  period,  and  he  was 
subsequently  appointed  Head  Master  at  Glasgow,  a  post  in  which  his  talents  were 
well  fitted  to  secure  him  success. 

It  is  now  time  to  say  something  about  the  Female  department  of  these  schools. 
This  had  been  first  commenced  in  1842  under  the  direction  of  Mrs.  Mclan,  a 
lady  whose  pictures  are  an  honor  to  her  country,  and  whose  devotion 
to  her  duties,  and  the  success  which  has  followed  that  devotion,  notwith- 
standing the  many  difficulties  in  which  she  has  been  placed  from  time  to  time 
by  the  apathy,  and  often  opposition  of  the  management,  deserve  the  highest 
consideration.  This  Female  school  was  intended  to  give  instruction  to  fe- 
males desirous  to  devote  their  time  to  the  pursuit  of  those  industrial  depart- 
ments of  art,  for  which  their  sex  might  fit  them  without  degradation.  Drawing 
and  engraving  on  wood,  lithography,  china  painting,  designing  for  lace,  printed 
goods,  silk,  silver  work,  even  to  the  modelling  of  the  latter,  were  suitable 
branches  of  industry.  Mrs.  Mclan  visited  Sevres  and  the  Staffordshire  Potter- 
ies, made  herself  practically  conversant  with  the  various  methods  of  painting  chi- 
na, and  this,  too,  as  only  one  part  of  her  duties.  In  fact,  an  intelligent  and  earn- 
est mind  was  at  work  on  a  suitable  subject,  and  success  was  the  result,  even  un- 
der all  the  difficulties  to  which  we  have  alluded.  Of  the  present  state  of  the  Fe- 
male School,  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  hereafter. 

The  result  of  the  utter  want  of  systematic  management  in  London  re-acted 
upon  the  Branch  Schools,  and  the  extreme  of  a  stereotyped  course  of  study,  with- 
out regard  to  the  varied  requirements  of  each  manufacturing  locality,  resulted 
in  another  extreme,  in  which  each  master  did  what  was  right  in  his  own  eyes, 
and  most  profitable  or  convenient  for  his  own  purposes.  The  abolition  of  the  nor- 


*  It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  state,  that  Mr.  Wallis,  who  has  recently  visited  the  United  States,  as 
one  of  the  Royal  Commissioners  from  Great  Britain,  had  advocated  the  cause  of  art-education  for  the  artisan, 
long  before  ids  connection  With  the  schools.  His  experience  as  head-master  at  Spitalflolds.  and  his  success 
there  and  at  Manchester,  gave  his  opinions  great  weight,  though  this  was  not  felt  at  the  time.  They 
were  made  of  more  and  more  value  by  his  untiring  attention  to  the  practical  questions  of  art-manufacture, 
and  his  efforts  as  a  writer  and  lecturer,  from  the  period  at  which  he  threw  up  Ids  post  at  Manchester, 
until  his  unsolicited  reappointment  as  head-master  at  Birmingham  In  1851,  after  five  years  absence  from 
I  official  duty. 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


mal  class  for  training  and  qualifying  masters,  rendered  it  necessary  to  select  stu- 
dents from  the  Royal  Academy — clever  painters  of  small  pictures,  or  incipient 
sculptors,  who,  valuing  the  appointments  from  the  convenience  they  afforded  of 
living  whilst  executing  unsalable,  works,  cared  little  for  the  schools,  and  still  less 
for  their  real  purpose,  that  of  applying  art  to  manufacture.  Upon  the  latter,  they 
either  looked  with  contempt,  or  were  content  to  remain  in  ignorance  of  the  very 
thing  they  had  undertaken  to  teach.  As  might  be  expected,  the  Schools  of  De- 
sign, originally  intended  as  schools  of  ornamental  and  industrial  art,  became  nei- 
ther more  nor  less  than  drawing-schools,  chiefly  for  the  children  of  the  middle 
classes.  Nor  was  drawing  taught  upon  a  scientific  basis.  The  examples  of  the  ordi- 
nary drawing-master  were  used,  and  conventional  landscape  took  the  place  of  se- 
vere outline,  prettinesses  usurped  the  place  of  true  art,  and  the  artisan,  neglected 
and  disheartened,  found  little  to  attract  him  to  devote  his  leisure  hours  in  learn- 
ing that  which  was  useless  to  him  when  mastered.  In  one  school  young  ladies 
of  good  family  and  ample  means  were  getting  instruction  in  drawing  as  an  ac- 
complishment at  three  cents  per  lesson,  the  rest  being  paid  out  of  the  public  funds, 
whilst  the  wants  of  the  class  of  workmen  and  their  sons,  for  whose  especial  in- 
struction this  school  was  founded,  were  all  but  neglected.  Such  a  state  of  things 
could  not  go  on  for  any  length  of  time,  and  accordingly,  in  1849,  Mr.  Milner  Gib- 
son, the  member  of  Parliament  for  Manchester,  obtained  the  appointment  of  a 
Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  to  inquire  into  the  whole  system  of  manage- 
ment. The  result  of  this  inquiry  was  the  full  proof  that  the  schools  had  not  done 
their  work,  that  they  never  would  do  it  without  a  more  distinct  system  of  direc- 
tion and  supervision,  and  that  the  wants  of  each  district  in  its  own  special  manufac- 
tures, should  be  consulted  in  the  direct  application  of  the  system  of  instruction 
pursued,  whatever  that  might  be.  The  Government,  for  the  time  being,  resisted 
any  change  emanating  from  the  report  of  the  Committee ;  but,  that  report  once 
disposed  of,  a  desire  was  shown  on  the  part  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  to  render  the 
schools  more  efficient  in  the  plans  indicated  by  the  evidence  given  before  that 
Committee.  The  Great  Exhibition  of  1851  intervened,  and  those  who  had  agi- 
tated the  question  were  engaged  in  carrying  out  that  undertaking  to  its  conclu- 
sion. Early  in  1852,  however,  a  new  department  of  the  Board  of  Trade  was  or- 
ganized, to  be  called  the  Department  of  Practical  Art,  at  the  head  of  which  Mr. 
Henry  TCole,  0.  B.,  one  of  the  most  active  members  of  the  Executive  Committee 
of  the  Great  Exhibition,  was  placed  as  General  Superintendent,  with  Mr.  R. 
Redgrave,  R.  A.,  as  Assistant  Superintendent.  To  their  care  and  management, 
as  heads  of  the  department,  the  whole  management  of  the  schools  was  to  be 
confided.  Here  there  was  a  real  tangible  beginning  of  a  system  of  responsibility, 
which  had  been  so  long  advocated. 

As  a  beginning  of  the  new  organization,  the  Queen  granted  the  use  of  that 
part  of  Marlborough  House,  formerly  the  residence  of  Queen  Adelaide,  and  the 
future  residence  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  which  was  not  occupied  by  the  pictures 
of  the  Vernon  Collection.  These  unoccupied  rooms  presented  many  conveniences 
for  the  purpose,  and  were  at  once  fitted  up  and  adapted  for  class  and  other  rooms. 
A  lecture  theatre  was  formed  out  of  the  kitchen  of  the  palace,  royal  bedrooms 
became  suddenly  useful  as  libraries  and  offices,  but  above  all,  a  portion  of  the 
building  was  devoted  to  the  formation  of  a  museum  of  manufactures,  in  which 
art  as  applied  thereto,  could  be  illustrated  in  its  best  forms,  and  the  choicest  exam- 
ples placed  before  the  manufacturer,  the  artisan,  the  student,  and  the  public ; 
thus  teaching  all,  by  the  best  of  processes,  an  appeal  to  the  sense  of  pro- 
priety and  fitness,  whilst  contemplating  the  beautiful.  Fortunately  for 
this  movement,  the  Great  Exhibition  had  brought  together  the  choicest  pro- 
ductions of  modern  times.  By  the  advice  of  Lord  Granville,  who,  as  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Trade,  was  the  ministerial  head  of  the  schools,  the  govern- 
ment had  determined  to  apply  £5,000  sterling  in  the  purchase  of  examples  for  the 
use  of  the  schools  about  to  be  so  thoroughly  reformed.  Four  gentlemen  were 
appointed  as  a  committee  to  select  them,  Mr.  H.  Cole,  Mr.  Pugin,  Mr.  Owen 
Jones,  and  Mr.  Redgrave,  R.  A.  The  whole  of  the  grant  was  not  expended,  but  a 
fine  selection  of  articles  was,  on  the  whole,  made  by  them.  These,  together  with  a 
very  fine  collection  of  works  of  a  similar  character,  purchased  at  the  Paris  Exposi- 
tion of  1844,  but  which  had  been  scarcely  ever  seen  by  the  public,  having  been 
placed  in  out-of-the-way  corners  in  the  school  at  Somerset  House,  formed  the 
nucleus  of  this  new  and  practical  museum  of  modern  skill  and  industry.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  articles  thus  purchased  for  the  nation,  the  Queen  has  lent  many  excel- 
lent specimens  of  ancient  and  modern  art  in  gold,  silver,  china,  and  in  decorated 
armour  and  furniture,  the  nobility  and  collectors  generally  following  so  excellent 
an  example.  This  museum  is  free  to  the  public  on  Mondays  and  Thursdays,  but  on 
Wednesdays,  Thursdays  and  Fridays,  it  is  open  to  students  of  the  Department  only 
and  those  of  the  public  who  go  for  study,  and  the  value  the  latter  set  upon  this  privi- 
lege is  tested  by  a  fee  of  sixpence.  This  museum,  though  not  yet  very  extensive, 
has  become  a  point  of  attraction  to  all  intelligent  visitors  to  the  Metropolis. 

The  formation  of  special  classes  for  instruction  in  Art,  as  directly  applied  to 
manufactures,  having  been  determined  upon,  the  higher  departments  of  art 
hitherto  taught  at  Somerset  House,  were  removed  to  Marlborough  House.  A 
change  was  thus  made  in  the  character  of  the  former,  which  became  simply 
a  preparatory  school  for  the  latter.    More  recently  it  has  been  or  is  to  be  abolished 


altogether,  as  the  public  service  requires  the  departments  for  offices,  and  the  func- 
tions of  this  single  school  are  to  be  performed  by  a  number  of  elementary  schools 
spread  over  the  London  districts  at  convenient  distances  from  each  other. 

In  connection  with  so  rational  a  mode  of  meeting  the  wants  of  a  large 
city,  by  a  number  of  small  establishments  rather  than  a  solitary  great  one,  ele- 
mentary schools  are  proposed  and  are  now  in  course  of  establishment  in  many 
provincial  towns,  whose  claims  to  a  grant  for  a  school  of  Ornamental  Art 
would  be  more  than  problematic,  while  the  means  of  supporting  one  by  local 
means  would  be  totally  inadequate.  These  schools,  commencing  with  the  ele- 
ments of  drawing,  prepare  the  student  to  take  advantage  of  the  higher  and  more 
advanced  classes  in  the  larger  schools.  In  connection  with  this  movement  also, 
there  is  a  plan  for  extending  instruction  in  drawing  into  any  primary  school 
which  receives  State  support.  This  is  of  a  very  elementary  character,  but  the 
teachers,  male  and  female,  are  expected  to  qualify  themselves  to  give  such  instruc- 
tion, and  classes  for  teachers  are  found  in  nearly  all  the  large  schools  of  Orna- 
mental Art,  in  which  instruction  is  given  free.  Eventually  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  the  power  to  draw,  and  teach  its  elementary  practice  and  principles, 
will  be  an  indispensable  requisite  in  any  teacher  applying  for  a  certificate. 

Of  course  a  most  important  point  in  the  successful  management  of  these 
schools,  is  a  proper  provision  for  a  constant  supply  of  good  examples  at  a  cheap 
rate,  and  also  the  supply  of  good  and  cheap  materials.  The  old  management  made 
grants  of  examples  to  the  various  schools,  free  of  cost ;  such  examples,  however, 
were  still  considered  to  be  the  property  of  this  government,  in  the  event  of  the 
school  in  which  they  were  deposited  being  abandoned,  or  being  prevented  from 
its  legitimate  use.  The  examples  usually  consisted  of  an  admirable  series  of 
ornamental  casts,  from  the  best  antique  specimens  deposited  in  the  various 
museums  of  Italy,  France,  Germany  and  England,  and  also  of  full  size  plaster  casts 
of  the  more  celebrated  antique  statues,  such  as  the  Apollo  Belvidere,  Venus  de 
Medici,  Discobolus,  the  Fighting  Gladiator,  or  Agas,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  the 
Theseus  and  Ilissus  of  the  Elgin  Marbles,  and  others.  Examples  in  color  were 
also  furnished,  but  owing  to  their  cost  but  very  sparingly.  In  the  elementary 
departments  of  the  schools  an  abundant  supply  of  excellent  lithographs  were  fur- 
nished as  examples  for  crayon  practice,  and  an  admirable  series  of  outlines,  prepar- 
ed expressly  for  the  use  of  these  schools,  by  Mr.  Dyce,  during  his  directorship.  Nor 
should  the  works  by  Grunez  be  forgotten,  since  they  also  contain  some  admirable 
examples  in  the  midst  of  much  which  might  have  been  better  done.  This  work  was 
published  under  the  sanction  of  the  Council  of  the  School  of  Design  at  Somerset 
House,  an  undertaking  being  given  that  a  certain  number  of  copies  should  be 
purchased  for  the  use  of  the  schools,  as  some  guarantee  to  the  publisher  against 
loss.  In  the  matter  of  materials,  nothing  was  done  until  the  present  department 
was  organized,  and  in  this  important  point  samples  of  materials,  with  the  prices 
and  the  address  of  those  who  make  or  sell  them,  are  now  given  at  the  cost  price 
of  the  samples  only.* 

Examples  are  no  longer  supplied,  or  perhaps  it  would  be  more  correct  to  say 
lent,  free.  It  was  found  that  in  too  many  instances  the  examples  supplied  were 
not  useful  to  the  locality  to  which  they  were  sent,  or  their  use  was  neglected. 
The  plan  now  adopted,  is  to  supply  whatever  examples  any  school  may  require 
for  absolute  use,  at  half  the  cost  price,  the  other  half  being  defrayed  out  of  an 
annual  grant  of  money  made  for  that  purpose.  The  fact  of  paying  half  price, 
proves  that  the  examples  are  wanted,  and  therefore  that  the  remaining  half  may 
be  safely  calculated  upon  as  well  spent  from  the  public  purse. 

In  addition  to  the  examples  requisite  for  study,  grants  of  valuable  works  on 
art  were  made  to  the  largest  of  the  provincial  schools,  thus  forming  a  library  of 
reference  in  each  district,  whilst  the  wants  of  the  students,  as  regards  the  history 
of  art  and  all  matters  connected  therewith,  were  provided  for  by  well  selected 
lending  libraries,  from  which  students  of  proper  age  and  standing  were  privileged 
to  borrow  works  bearing  upon  their  pursuits  in  art.  From  the  floating  character 
of  the  population,  it  was  found,  especially  in  London,  that  the  lending 
library  required  renewal  very  frequently ;  and  it  is  now  abandoned  at  Marl- 
borough House,  the  new  centre  of  the  schools.  In  most  of  the  provincial 
schools,  however1,  lending  libraries  still  form  one  of  the  many  advantages  offered 
to  students,  but  the  dilapidation  of  the  books,  frequent  losses,  and  no  source  of 
further  supply,  must  ere  long  tend  to  the  same  result  as  at  head-quarters.  The 
libraries  of  reference  are  kept  up  with  great  care,  and  most  of  them  afford  excel- 
lent means  of  correcting  the  taste  of  designs  and  manufactures,  as  in  most  in- 
stances they  are  freely  open  at  proper  hours  to  all  who  wish  to  examine  or  con- 
sult them.  At  Birmingham,  for  instance,  the  school  prospectus  concludes  with 
an  invitation  to  all  persons  interested,  to  avail  themselves  of  the  library  under 
certain  orderly  regulations.  At  Marlborough  House,  London,  the  library  has  been 
thoroughly  classified,  and  where  defective,  renewed.  Additional  works  are  con- 
stantly being  bought,  and  any  student  of  art,  manufacturer,  or  designer,  can  have 
any  work  upon  any  style  of  art,  if  in  the  library,  handed  to  him  to  consult,  or 
to  make  sketches  and  memoranda  from  it. 


*  A  collection  of  these  examples  and  diagrams  is  now  exhibited  in  the  Crystal  Palace  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Practical  Art. 

103 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


With  regard  to  t he  kind  of  instruction  given,  it  would  occupy  too  much 
space  to  go  into  all  the  details.  Without  attempting  a  minute  account,  it  will 
therefore  bo  sufficient  to  say,  that  it  comprises  a  course  of  geometry  and  per- 
spective, simultaneously  with  n  rigid  course  of  free-hand  outline  drawing  from 
a  selection  of  ornaments  of  pure  styles,  and  of  the  human  figure.  When  this 
course  is  gone  through  in  a  satisfactory  manner,  tho  student  is  taught  shading  in 
crayon  or  chalk,  first  from  the  flat,  to  give  him  a  true  method  of  handling,  and 
then  from  the  cast;  and  his  subjects  may  be  either  antique  ornament,  or 
the  human  figure.  A  course  of  anatomy,  illustrative  of  the  latter,  is  also  pur- 
sued. In  the  study  of  color,  the  practice  is  first  in  monochrome  from  the  cast, 
and  then  from  the  smaller  objects  of  nature,  such  as  flowers,  prints,  shells,  etc., 
which  are  usually  grouped  as  compositions  of  color.  In  modelling,  which  is  prac- 
tically taught  in  most  of  the  schools,  the  students  are  carried  from  the  first 
efforts  in  clay  from  the  cast,  to  modelling  from  nature,  and  to  the  realiza- 
tion of  designs  for  manufacturers.  The  technical  instruction,  given  in  these 
schools,  beyond  that  which  applies  to  artistic  practice,  is  very  limited,  and  how 
far  it  shall  or  shall  not,  can  or  cannot  be  carried,  has  been  a  principal  source  of 
dispute,  amongst  those  who  have  the  greatest  interest  in  the  schools  and 
their  projects.  One  thing  appears  quite  certain,  that  to  make  them  into  centres 
for  supplying  the  actual  designs  for  manufactures,  supposing  this  could  be  done, 
would  be  to  bring  them  down  to  the  level  of  the  manufacturers'  taste,  while 
the  one  great  purpose  for  which  they  were  originally  established  was  to  elevate 
that  taste,  as  also  that  of  the  artisan  and  general  pnblic.  In  short,  the  functions 
of  these  schools  is  to  make  designers,  not  designs,  but  in  doing  the  former  there 
must  of  necessity  be  more  or  less  of  the  latter  done  or  aimed  at.  After  all,  how- 
ever, the  real  technical  knowledge  can  only  be  attained  in  the  workshops  or  in 
the  factory  ;  and  the  most  practical,  as  well  as  the  most  practicable  view,  is  to 
seek  to  give  the  artisan  such  an  amount  of  artistic  knowledge  as  shall  enable  him 
to  become  an  art  workman,  apt  at  realizing  the  designs  and  inventions  of  others 
with  accuracy  and  taste,  while,  should  he  possess  originality  himself,  his  artistic 
practice  and  technical  skill  will  go  hand  in  hand,  and  render  him  more  fitted  for 
his  position  as  a  leader.  The  first  thing,  however,  is  to  make  a  good  and  orderly 
follower  of  him,  alike  in  art  and  in  manufactures. 

The  Schools  of  Ornamental  Art  at  present  in  operation  in  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land, are  located  at  Belfast,  Birmingham,  Cork,  Coventry,  Dublin,  Glasgow,  Leeds, 
Limerick,  Macclesfield,  Manchester,  Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  Norwich,  Nottingham, 
Paisley,  Staffordshire  Potteries  (Stoke),  Sheffield,  Spitalfiekls,  Stourbridge,  Worcester 
and  York.  To  this,  it  should  be  understood,  are  now  added  a  considerable  number  of 
elementary  schools  as  the  commencement  of  others  of  a  more  extended  character, 
whenever  the  wants  of  the  respective  localities  in  which  they  are  situated  become 
apparent  in  the  uses  made  of  the  instruction  provided.  The  latter,  however,  have 
no  absolute  grant  of  money.  The  department  provides  a  properly  trained  master, 
and  guarantees  his  stipend  for  the  first  year,  if  the  fees  of  the  students  do  not 
amount  to  the  sum  required.  The  necessary  accommodation  as  regards  class-rooms, 
furniture,  gas-fittings,  care-taking,  and  half  the  cost  of  examples,  must  be  absolutely 
undertaken  by  the  locality  ;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  this  is  the  correct 
policy  now  to  pursue  in  relation  to  these  institutions.  Still,  had  such  a  system 
been  adopted  at  the  outset,  it  is  more  than  questionable  whether  many  of  the 
Schools  of  Art  now  in  operation  would  have  had  an  existence,  and  there  can  be 
little  doubt  that  many  of  them  would  have  been  abandoned  by  their  provincial 
promoters,  had  so  serious  a  binder  been  thrown  upon  them  as  the  responsibility  of 
rendering  them,  self-supporting ;  for,  strange  to  say,  the  majority  of  the  manufac- 
turers of  England  are  exceedingly  apathetic  upon  the  subject,  and  while  they  com- 
plain that  the  instruction  given  is  not  as  practical  as  it  ought  to  be,  they  neither 
use  their  influence  nor  their  money  to  assist  in  making  it  so.  Hence  many  of  the 
schools,  until  the  recent  changes  in  the  central  management,  had  fallen  into  mere 
dilettanti  drawing-classes,  from  the  fact  that  those  who  directed  them  had  little  or 
no  perception  of  their  true  uses ;  and  the  public  found  it  pleasant  to  get  in- 
struction in  making  pretty  drawings  at  a  few  cents  per  quarter,  instead  of  paying  an 
equitable  number  of  dollars.  But  while  this  system  has,  so  far  at  least,  been  put 
an  end  to,  there  is  yet  the  difficulty  to  overcome  of  showing  the  great  manufactur- 
ing houses  that  self-supporting  Schools  of  Art  which  will  do  their  work  in  the  right 
spirit,  are  practicable;  for  the  popular  drawing-class  element  may  be  carried 
to  such  an  extent  as  to  completely  absorb  the  more  essential  quality  of  pro- 
viding'for  the  wants  of  the  artisan.  Here  lies  the  difficulty.  Art,  as  applicable 
to  manufacture,  Ls  one  thing;  w  hilst  art,  as  a  mere  accomplishment,  is  another. 
Hundreds  will  be  found  to  pay  the  requisite  fees,  and  go  through  such  a  course  of 
study  as  may  answer  very  well  for  manufacturing  pretty  pictures ;  but  for  the  pur- 
poses of  the  loom,  the  casting  shop,  the  potter's  wheel,  the  printing  machine,  and 
the  glass  furnace,  another,  and  by  no  means  popular  course,  is  necessary.  Severe 
forms  can  only  arise  out  of  the  application  of  severe  principles,  and  in  working 
out  severe  courses  of  study,  and  to  this  none  but  the  professional  student  will  sub- 
mit; because  it  is  thought  that  the  mere  amateur  can  succeed  without  the  know- 
ledge required  by  the  artist  or  the  art-workman.  Thus  we  conclude,  that  to  have 
the  requisite  work  done,  the  government  must  pay  for  it,  since  the  popular  draw- 
ing-class is  the  only  thing  the  public  care  to  pay  for,  in  the  shape  of  fees.   But  we 


also  hold,  that  whilst  the  government  is  called  upon  to  pay  for  the  suitable  instruc- 
tion, it  ought  also  to  see  that  such  instruction  is  given.  This  was  a  matter  of 
minor  importance  with  nearly  all  the  previons  managements,  but  it  is  to  be  hoped 
sufficiently  understood  by  the  present  one  to  insure  success,  provided  the  self-sup- 
porting principle,  based  on  the  popularity-seeking  system,  is  not  carried  so  far  as  to 
make  the  wants  of  the  manufacturer  secondary  as  compared  with  the  self-support 
of  the  schools. 

On  analyzing  a  table,  published  in  the  first  official  report  of  the  new  depart- 
ment, we  find  that  the  grants  to  the  various  provincial  schools  before  enumerated 
amount  to  £7,500,  and  that  the  fees  received  from  students  are  £2,788  4s.  4d.  The 
local  subscriptions,  donations,  &c,  amount  to  £5,146  18s.,  thus  giving  a  total  in- 
come of  £15,347  12s.  9d.  for  the  year  ending  31st  December,  1852.  The  expendi- 
ture shows  a  total  of  £13,118  2s.  3d.  For  this  expenditure,  3,762  males,  and 
1,106  females  are  receiving  artistic  education,  or  at  least  are  so  reported.  The 
kind  and  degree  of  this  instruction  is,  as  we  have  shown,  open  to  grave  exception 
by  the  earnest  advocate  of  a  thoroughgoing  system  as  applicable  to  really  useful 
purposes. 

In  the  returns  from  nearly  all  the  schools,  the  occupations  of  the  students  are 
given ;  but  when  we  see  the  great  city  of  Manchester  neglecting  to  give  this 
most  important  item  of  information,  and  returning  round  numbers  of  portentous 
amount  as  the  number  of  students  on  the  books  (a  most  equivocal  mode  of  return), 
we  naturally  seek  to  see  what  further  impression  is  given  from  this  important 
locality.  On  turning  to  another  table,  in  which  returns  are  made  from  the  date  of 
the  establishment  of  each  school  to  1851,  the  same  school  returns,  strangely  enough, 
less  than  half  the  number  as  the  average  ;  thus  the  difficulty  of  giving  the  occu- 
pation of  the  700  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  322  is  nearer  the  mark,  whilst  the 
amount  of  fees  received  in  the  year  1852,  always  a  good  test,  since  the  money 
must  be  accounted  for,  is  only  £262,1 6s.,  which  clearly  gives  even  less  than  300 
students.  Now  this  example  of  an  official  return  is  quoted  to  show,  how  little 
dependence  a  government  can  place  upon  the  expenditure  of  grants  for  the  results 
of  the  application  of  which  it  does  not  clearly  hold  the  administrators  responsible, 
by  seeing  that  the  work  undertaken  to  be  done  is  actually  accomplished;  a  point 
about  which,  until  recently,  officials  at  head-quarters  scarcely  troubled  themselves. 
It  is  only  right  to  say,  however,  that  the  returns  from  all  the  other  schools" appear 
to  be  fairly  given,  the  lists  of  the  occupations  of  the  students  being  curiously  illus- 
trative of  the  trades  of  the  various  localities.  The  ages,  too,  are  given  in  groups, 
and  show  that  the  greatest  number  of  those  who  attend  are  between  fifteen  and 
twenty,  a  large  number  being  also  between  twenty  and  thirty,  and  many  above 
thirty  years  of  age.  The  average  period  of  attendance,  however,  would  appear  not 
to  be  above  two  years  and  a  half,  and  this  too,  irrespective  of  the  many  who  do 
not  attend  a  whole  year. 

In  London  a  great  change  is  now  in  the  course  of  being  effected.  Instead 
of  a  single  school  at  Somerset  House,  several  elementary  schools  are  estab- 
lished, whilst  the  rooms,  previously  occupied  in  that  great  centre  of  govern- 
ment offices,  have  been  given  up  to  the  registrar-general,  and  its  business 
transferred  to  Marlborough  House,  where  all  the  advanced  classes  are  conduct- 
ed. The  female  school  being  located  in  the  neighborhood  of  College  University, 
goes  on  much  as  it  has  done,  as  regards  its  elementary  course  of  instruction,  but  is 
now  being  made  more  extensively  useful  than  formerly. 

There  is  one  point  in  connection  with  the  support  of  these  schools,  which 
appears  to  have  been  a  fruitful  source  of  discussion  wherever  the  pecuniary  ques- 
tion has  been  raised.  In  the  provinces  large  subscriptions  are  required  to  assist 
in  their  support,  in  the  metropolis  ibis  is  not  done.  Even  Spitalfiekls,  e  branch 
school,  received  the  whole  of  its  support  from  the  government,  except  some 
£40  or  £50  per  annum,  until  lately.  The  provincials  maintain,  that  while  London 
possesses  innumerable  advantages  for  the  study  of  art,  in  nearly  all  its  forms, 
provincial  towns  have  rarely  any  except  such  as  may  be  afforded  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  school  of  ornamental  art;  and  yet  a  provincial  town  is  called 
upon  to  bear  half  the  cost  of  an  institution  so  much  needed,  but  the  me- 
tropolis gets  the  government  grant  without  any  conditions.  The  reply  is, 
that  a  central  institution  is  essential  for  the  proper  training  of  masters  for 
the  provincial  schools,  and  that  a  great  portion  of  the  expenses  of  the  metro- 
politan schools,  ought  to  be  set  down  to  the  provincial  ones.  The  line  of  con- 
tention, however,  still  exists,  and  promises  to  form  no  unimportant  point  in  the 
final  question  as  to  how  far  tho  provincial  schools  are  to  be  self-supporting. 

Under  any  circumstances,  it  is  the  policy  of  a  wise  government  to  encourage 
such  institutions  as  these,  the  working  of  which  in  Great  Britain  we  have  been  en- 
deavoring to  illustrate.  Their  influence,  imperfectly  as  they  have  been  as  yet 
worked,  has  been  very  important.  Under  a  more  earnest  and  stringent  system  of 
supervision,  with  the  experience  of  the  past  to  rely  upon,  their  future  career  cannot 
fail  to  be  marked  with  beneficial  results  alike  to  the  artisan,  the  manufacturer, 
and  the  general  public.  For,  in  an  age  like  the  present,  in  which  the  ingenuity 
of  man  is  so  strikingly  manifested  in  the  rapid  development  of  means  of  manufac- 
ture, by  which  the  useful  can  be  made  ornamental,  in  some  instances  at  even  less 
cost  than  it  can  be  constructed  without  decoration,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that 
that  country  which  pays  most  attention  to  a  matter  becoming  daily  of  more  im- 


THE    NEW -  YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


portance,  must  take  the  lead  alike  in  commerce  as  it  does  in  the  arts,  and  apart 
from  the  ripening  influence  of  the  latter,  must  realize  advantages  of  no  mean  im- 
portance to  its  future  progress  in  civilisation. 

We  have  devoted  so  considerable  a  space  of  the  Reoohd  to  the  history  of  the 
foundation  and  vicissitudes  of  the  schools  of  Ornamental  Art  in  England,  and  to 
an  explanation  of  the  course  of  study  pursued  in  them,  not  only  because  we 
thought  the  subject  a  highly  important  one,  but,  in  the  hope  that  onr  article  might 
attract  attention  here,  and  induce  wealthy,  influential,  and  liberal  citizens  to  pro- 
vide similar  schools  for  the  instruction  of  our  own  artisans. 


ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPHS. 

AMONG  the  many  applications  of  electricity  to  the  arts  and  requirements  of 
civilised  life,  there  is  none  which  plays  so  admirable  and  so  important  a  part 
as  the  Electric  Telegraph.  Its  power  is  a  perpetual  miracle,  and  its  consequences, 
political  and  social,  might  be  the  theme  of  the  grandest  prophecy.  It  is  one 
of  those  immortal  discoveries  that  give  character  to  an  age,  and  would  make  our 
own  for  ever  memorable,  though  it  stood  alone,  the  solitary  achievement  of  the 
time.  The  capabilities  of  the  Electric  Telegraph  have  already  far  exceeded  the 
hopes  of  the  most  sanguine  of  its  early  friends,  and  what  it  now  proposes  to  do, 
without  a  knowledge  of  its  past  history,  would  be  pronounced  most  extravagant 
and  chimerical.  It  no  longer  confines  its  operations  to  individual  countries 
and  continents,  but  is  stretching  its  bonds  of  intelligence  and  amity  across 
the  wastes  of  oceans,  and  preparing  to  make  every  man  a  Prospero,  with  a 
far  swifter  and  more  accomplished  Ariel  to  serve  him.  Our  Atlantic  steamers 
bring  us  intelligence  from  all  parts  of  Europe  up  to  the  moment  of  their 
departure,  by  means  of  the  electric  link,  which,  lying  deep  in  the  arm  of 
the  oeean  between  England  and  France,  silently  conveys  the  news  of  revo- 
lutions upon  which  hang  the  fate  of  nations.  A  company  has  been  formed 
tc  connect  Cuba  with  Florida,  and  another  has  fairly  entered  upon  the  work 
of  spanning  the  Atlantic.  Now  that  it  is  the  most  prominent  scientific 
application  of  the  age,  old  inventions  and  ideas,  which,  at  the  time  of  their  con- 
ception, had  only  vitality  enough  to  find  a  place  in  the  record  of  history,  and 
had  since  slumbered  for  years,  have  again  come  to  life,  and  deriving  strength  and 
importance  from  their  antagonists,  have  urged  a  competition  for  honor  with  those 
inventions  which  first  converted  an  abstract  idea  into  a  practical  fact,  and  brought 
it  forward  for  the  benefit  of  the  world.  In  the  first  experiments  of  Francis 
Ronalds,  of  England,  who  proposed  and  built,  in  1823,  a  telegraph  extending  over  a 
distance  of  175  yards,  operated  by  Motional  electricity,  the  wires  were  enclosed 
in  thick  glass  tubes  carefully  joined  with  wax,  and  placed  underground  in  wooden 
troughs  lined  and  covered  with  pitch  ;  and  it  is  now  a  well  established  historical 
fact  [PA il.  Trans.,  vol.  XIV.,  1848],  that  more  than  one  hundred  years  ago  Dr.  Wat- 
son extended  his  experiments  over  a  space  of  two  miles  near  London,  and  used  a 
single  wire,  the  ground  forming  the  return  and  completing  the  circuit.  And 
in  the  year  1748,  Dr.  Franklin  set  fire  to  spirits  by  means  of  an  electric  current 
sent  across  the  Schuylkill  on  a  wire,  and  returning  in  its  circuit  by  the  river  and 
the  earth.  In  1837  it  was  again  discovered  by  Steinheil  that  the  conducting 
power  of  the  earth  could  be  advantageously  substituted  for  one  of  the  wires,  and 
that  it  was  unnecessary  to  connect  each  pole  of 
the  battery  with  the  telegraph  apparatus  at  the 
distant  station.  The  saving  of  the  cost  and 
repairs  of  one  out  of  every  two  wires  is  not 
the  only  advantage  derived  from  this  discovery. 
The  conducting  power  of  the  earth  is  so  supe- 
rior, that  it  adds  nothing  to  the  resistance,  and 
acts  too  as  the  return  connection  to  any  num- 
ber of  distinct  wires  and  batteries,  without 
affecting  the  independent  action  of  any  of 
them.  It  is  believed  that  in  the  year  1825 
Mr.  Sturgeon,  of  England,  constructed  the 
first  electro-magnet,  by  coiling  a  copper  wire 
around  a  piece  of  iron  of  a  horse-shoe  form, 
the  turns  being  kept  apart  to  prevent  the 
transmission  of  the  electricity  between  them. 
He  found  that  when  the  electricity  was  passing 
through  the  coil,  the  inert  mass  of  iron  enclosed 
was  endowed  with  all  the  wonderful  properties 
of  a  magnet,  and  lost  them  again  on  the  instant 
the  current  was  interrupted. 

But  it  is  not  our  intention  to  write  a  history  of  the  ideas  and  discoveries 
which  reached  their  consummation  in  the  Electric  Telegraph.  We  have  only 
to  explain  the  methods  mostly  in  use  upon  the  fifteen  thousand  miles  of  telegraphic 
lines  now  in  operation  in  the  United  States,  and  which  are  illustrated  by  the 
working  machines  exhibited  in  the  Crystal  Palace. 

Grove's  batteries  are  most  generally  used  in  this  country,  and  consist  of  a 
series  of  glass  cups  or  ordinary  tnmblers,  in  each  of  which  is  placed  an  unglazed 


porcelain  cup.  In  the  glass  cups,  which  contain  sulphuric  acid  diluted  witli 
water,  are  immersed  cylindrical  pieces  ot  zinc,  connected  witli  slips  of  platina  foi' 
which  dip  into  the  diluted  nitric  acid  tilling  the  porcelain  enp  in  the  adjoining 
tumbler.  The  decomposition  of  the  zinc  is  rendered  less  rapid  by  amalgamation, 
or  coating  it  with  mercury  rubbed  into  its  surface.  The  platina  at  one  end  of  the 
row  or  series,  or  its  wire  connection,  is  called  the  positive  pole,  and  the  zinc  at 
the  other  is  the  negative  pole.  The  circuit  is  closed  and  the  current  established 
by  connecting  the  wires  or  terminating  them  in  the  earth ;  and  it  may  include 
any  number  of  machines  for  telegraphic  purposes.  The  chief  difficulty  experi- 
enced is  to  keep  the  wires  unbroken  and  to  avoid  the  disturbing  action  of  at- 
mospheric electricity  and  the  destructive  effect  of  lightning.  The  wires  in  this 
country  are  hung  from  glass  or  porcelain  insulators  on  poles,  and  in  some  parts  of 
Europe  they  are  incased  in  gutta  percha  and  buried  in  the  ground.  Various 
combinations  of  telegraph  wires  insulated  with  gutta  percha,  and  protected 
with  wire  rope  and  vertebrated  iron  chains,  have  been  used  in  crossing  rivers 
and  the  sea. 

Almost  every  effect  by  which  the  presence  of  electricity  is  manifested,  has 
been  enlisted  for  the  purpose  of  transmitting  ideas  to  a  distance.  The  electro- 
chemical telegraph  of  Bain  records  by  means  of  the  decomposing  power  of 
electricity.  It  consists  of  an  iron  point  connecting  with  the  positive  pole  of  the 
battery,  and  quietly  resting  upon  a  circular  brass  disc,  with  which  it  forms  part  of 
the  circuit.  If  paper  moistened  with  a  solution  of  prussiate  of  potash,  slightly 
acidulated  with  nitric  or  sulphuric  ucid,  is  placed  between  the  point  and  disc,  and 
a  current  of  electricity  passed  through,  an  oxydation  of  the  iron  and  combination 
with  the  prussiate  is  induced,  forming  prussian  blue  and  depositing  a  dark  blue 
mark.  The  disc  is  revolved  by  clock-work,  and  the  iron  point  is  guided  by  an 
arm  resting  in  a  groove  in  the  central  portion  of  the  plate,  and  traces  dots  and 
marks  or  blanks  in  a  spiral  direction  on  the  paper  as  the  current  is  closed  or 
broken.  The  discoloration  is  effected  instantaneously,  and  it  has  the  additional 
advantage  of  being  performed  with  a  much  more  feeble  current  of  electricity  than 
would  be  required  to  produce  a  mechanical  result.  There  have  been  several  mod- 
ifications proposed  for  the  purpose  of  transmitting  fac-simile  copies.  The  princi- 
ple involved  is  to  break  and  close  the  current  by  writing  with  dissolved  sealing 
wax  or  other  non-conducting  material  on  the  surface  of  a  cylinder  included  in 
the  circuit.  The  cylinder  revolves  slowly  by  means  of  clock-work,  and  as  the 
fine  point  of  the  style  passes  over  the  writing,  the  current  is  broken,  and  there  is 
a  blank  left  on  the  prepared  paper  wrapped  upon  a  similarly  conditioned  cylin- 
der at  the  other  terminus,  which  the  electricity  would  otherwise  cover  with  a 
finely  traced  helix.  The  axes  of  the  cylinders  are  cut  with  screw  threads,  so  that 
a  revolution  shifts  them  endways  a  slight  distance,  corresponding  to  the  fineness 
of  the  screw.  When  this  machine  becomes  a  quick-working  and  reliable  instru- 
ment, it  will  be  an  important  acquisition  in  business  operations,  and  might  be 
found  useful  in  transmitting  an  outline  picture  or  likeness  of  a  fugitive  rogue. 
The  first  application  for  a  patent  for  an  electric  telegraph,  by  Samuel  F.  B. 

Morse,  was  made  in  1837 ;  and  the 
first  line  in  the  United  States  was 
built  by  him,  in  1844,  between  Wash- 
ington and  Baltimore,  in  which  enter- 
prise  he  was  assisted  with  thirty 


MORSE  8  ELECTRO-MAGNETIC  TELEGRAPH 


thousand  dollars,  appropriated  for  the  purpose  by  Congress.  In  the  recording 
instrument  represented  above,  there  is  a  piece  of  pure,  soft  iron,  of  the 
ordinary  horse-shoe  magnet  form,  wrapped  with  many  hundred  convolutions  of  fine 
copper  wire  carefully  insulated  by  a  covering  of  silk.  When  the  circuit  is  closed, 
and  the  current  of  electricity  flows  through  the  wire,  the  iron  becomes  magnet- 1 
ized,  and  attracts  the  armatures  attached  to  one  of  the  arms  of  an  axis,  which  car- 
ries on  its  opposite  side  an  arm  furnished  with  a  steel  point,  regulated  by  a  screw, 

and  pressing  through  the  interposed  paper  into  a  groove  cut  on  one  of  the  rollers 

105 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


of  a  pair  which  are  moved  by  a  system  of  wheel-work,  and  carry  the  paper  from 
its  spool  regularly  forward.  If  the  circuit  is  kept  closed  any  appreciable  time,  the 
paper  is  marked  with  a  line  corresponding  to  its  motion.  So  soon  as  the  current 
is  interrupted,  the  iron  becomes  demagnetized,  and  the  spring  attached  to  the  ver- 
tical arm  extending  downwards  from  the  axis,  throws  the  armature  up  and  disen- 
gages the  point  from  the  paper,  which  continues  to  move  forward  without  further 
impression.  If  a  mere  momentary  impulse  is  given  to  the  curreut,  the  point  im- 
presses only  a  dot  upon  the  paper.  The  current  is  broken  and  closed  by  the  fin- 
ger key  shown  in  the  annexed  figure.  The  operator  presses  upon  the  button,  and 
the  point  on  the  key  is  brought  in  contact  with  the  corresponding  point  on  the 
base  piece,  and,  as  they  both  form  parts  of  the  circuit,  the  current  is  established, 
and  a  dot  or  line  traced  on  the  paper  of  the  recording  machine  according  to  the 
time  of  contact.  On  removing  the  finger,  the  spring  attached  to  the  key  throws 
it  np,  and  breaks  the  circuit.    The  various  combinations  of  dots,  lines,  and  spaces 


FINGElt  KEY. 


are  arranged  to  represent  letters  or  words.  At  first,  Professor  Morse  proposed  to 
use  what  he  styled  a  port-rule,  consisting  of  types  of  dots  and  marks  set  as  they 
were  to  be  recorded,  and  traversing  an  instrument  similar  to  the  finger-key,  and 
giving  to  it  a  corresponding  motion.  This  mechanical  contrivance  was  soon 
superseded  by  the  finger-key,  with  which  the  dexterous  manipulation  of  a  practised 
operator  determines  the  lengths  of  the  marks  and  spaces  with  sufficient  accuracy 
for  practical  purposes,  and,  although  a  single  letter  sometimes  requires  three  or 
four  motions  of  the  finger,  transmits  them  at  the  rqte  of  one  hundred  a  minute. 
It  is  found  that  in  passing  through  a  long  wire  the  electricity  becomes  dissipated, 
and  reaches  the  distant  terminus  in  too  enfeebled  a  current  to  perform  the 
mechanical  execution  required.  To  obviate  this,  relay  magnets  are  used,  similar 
in  principle  to  the  recording  instrument,  but  dispensing  with  the  wheel-work,  and 
using  the  point  to  break  and  close  the  current  of  an  additional  set  of  batteries, 
which  is  thus  brought  into  operation,  and  sends  its  power  as  far  as  may  be  prac- 
ticable to  employ  another  battery;  which,  in  its  turn,  may  perform  a  similar 
duty,  or  merely  work  the  recording  machine  at  the  terminus.  . 

The  imperfect  drawing  of  the  beautiful  and  ingenious  machine  invented  by 
Eoyal  E.  House,  serves  the  purpose  of  a  cursory  glance  at  the  instrument  itself,  by 
suggesting  the  idea  of  an  exceedingly  complex  arrangement  of  parts,  which 
require  a  careful  examination  to  be  understood.  The  cylinder  shown  on  the  left 
contains  a  helical  coil  of  fine  copper  wire,  well  wrapped  and  insulated  with  silk, 
and  forming  the  circuit  with  the  telegraph  wire.  A  brass  tube,  of  about  half  an 
inch  in  diameter,  is  placed  in  the  coil  and  has  disposed  inside  its  length  eight  short 
iron  cylinders.  A  small  brass  rod 
extending  through  the  tube,  and 
carrying  eight  iron  discs,  is  sus- 


discs,  and  causes  them  to  attract  one  another  and  draw  the  rod  downward.  On 
the  cessation  of  the  current,  the  rod  is  drawn  up  by  the  spring  of  the  horizontal 
wire ;  and  thus  the  closing  and  breaking  of  the  circuit  occasions  a  vibration  of 
the  brass  rod  and  a  small  piston  valve  carried  by  it  in  the  air-chamber  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  cylinder.   This  chamber  is  supplied  with  air  from  a  pump 
attached  to  the  frame  of  the  machine,  through  the  vertical  pipe ;  and  the  oflBce  of 
the  valve  is  to  alternately  supply  the  two  horizontal  pipes  connecting  with  the 
opposite  ends  of  a  cylinder  situated  under  the  upper  plate  of  the  instrument  and 
containing  a  piston  governing  the  motions  of  an  escapement,  in  a  manner  similar 
to  that  by  which  the  escapement  of  a  clock  is  governed  by  its  pendulum.  The 
motion  of  a  type  wheel,  with  the  twenty-six  letters  of  the  alphabet  and  a  period 
and  blank  engraved  upon  its  twenty-eight  projections,  is  regulated  by  this  escape- 
ment.   The  air  governs  the  motion  of  the  type  wheel,  and  is  in  its  turn  regulated 
by  the  electricity.    The  machines  are  built  in  pairs,  comprising  the  above  par- 
tially described  recording  instrument,  and  the  composing  instrument ;  each  con- 
nected when  in  operation  with  its  fellow  at  the  other  terminus.    The  composing 
machine  consists  of  a  cylinder  situated  under  the  lettered  keys  and  carrying  at 
one  end  a  brass  wheel  called  the  circuit  wheel,  with  one  end  of  the  telegraph 
wire  in  contact  with  its  side.    Its  periphery  is  cut  with  fourteen  slots,  and  has 
pressing  against  it  an  end  of  the  telegraph  wire  fashioned  into  a  spring,  so  that  as 
the  cylinder  and  wheel  are  revolved  the  circuit  is  broken  or  closed  by  the  passage 
of  the  spring  over  a  slot  or  projection.    A  detent  on  the  lower  side  of  each  key 
catches  a  pin  in  the  cylinder  and  arrests  its  motion,  and  also  that  of  tho  type- 
wheel  in  the  recording  instrument.    Now  suppose  the  letter  A  to  be  opposite  the 
slip  of  paper  placed  to  receive  the  message  to  be  transmitted,  and  the  key  marked 
A  detaining  the  cylinder  and  its  wheel,  with  the  circuit  closed  by  the  conducting 
spring  resting  upon  one  of  the  projections.    On  putting  the  machine  in  motion 
and  releasing  the  key,  the  current  is  broken  by  the  spring  passing  over  the  slot 
in  the  circuit  wheel  corresponding  to  B,  and  the  escapement  adverted  to  in  the 
recording  instrument,  allows  the  type  wheel  to  revolve  the  space  of  one  detent 
and  present  the  letter  B.    The  spring  again  closes  the  circuit  with  the  next  pro- 
jection on  the  circuit  wheel,  and  the  type  wheel  presents  the  next  letter ;  and 
these  operations  are  repeated  in  rapid  succession  until  the  motion  of  the  cylinder  is 
arrested  by  pressing  down  one  of  the  keys,  and  causing  the  type  wheel  to  stop  with 
its  corresponding  letter  opposite  the  paper.    When  the  type  wheel  of  the  record- 
ing machine  is  put  in  motion,  a  second  peculiar  escapement  is  detached  and  held 
in  abeyance  until  a  cessation  of  the  motion  allows  it  to  act,  and,  by  means  of  an 
eccentric  connected  with  it,  draw  the  paper  against  the  type  wheel  and  produce 
the  required  impression.    The  motion  of  this  escapement  also  releases  the  paper 
from  the  type  after  impressing  it,  and  causes  it  to  unroll  from  its  spool  and  ad- 
vance a  slight  distance  to  present  a  blank  for  the  next  letter.    A  blackened  strip 
of  paper  is  also  drawn  against  the  type  and  causes'  the  letter  to  be  fairly  printed, 
at  the  rate,  in  ordinary  communications,  of  two  hundred  a  minute.    The  motions 
of  the  type  wheel  and  its  two  escapements,  and  of  the  air  pump  and  the  circuit 
wheel,  are  all  communicated  through  pulleys  and  bands  from  a  treadle,  worked 
by  the  foot  of  the  operator.    The  letter  A  in  the  illustration  is  one  of  the  letters 

of  an  index  wheel,  corresponding 
to  the  type  wheel,  and  enables  the 
operator  to  perceive  at  a  glance 


IIOHBK'8   KI.KOTBIO  PRINTING  TEI.KORAPn. 


pended  from  the  horizontal  wire  seen  stretched  by  set  screws  between  the  stand- 
ards above  the  cylinder. 

The  electricity  traversing  tne  coil  magnetises  the  little  iron  cylinders  and 

106 


the  condition  of  the  instrument,  and  allows  the  letters  to  be  read  as  they  are 
presented,  if  it  should  be  desirable  to  remove  the  type  wheel  or  paper  and  pre- 
vent the  recording  operation  taking  place. 


THE    NEW -  YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


The  magnificent  Service  of  Gold  Plate,  which  we 
engrave  upon  this  page,  deserves  the  particular  regard 
of  every  American.  It  commemorates  an  event  of  national 
importance,  one  that  added  distinguished  honor  to  our 
country,  and  materially  enhanced  our  reputation  for  en- 
terprise and  power. 

It  hears  the  following  inscription : — 


"This  Service  of  Plate 

18  PBKSEKTED  BY  THE  CITIZENS  OF  NEW-YORK 
to 

Edward  K.  Collins, 
"  In  testimony  of  the  public  sense  of  the  great  honor  and 
advantage  which  has  been  conferred  upon  this  city  and  the 
whole  country,  through  his  energy  and  perseverance  in 
the  successful  establishment  of  an  American  Line  of 
Transatlantic  Steamers. 

"August,  1851." 
10T 


The  Collins'  Plate  was  manufactured  by  the  eminent 
goldsmiths  of  New-York,  Messrs.  Ball,  Black  &  Co.,  by 
whom  it  was  exhibited  in  London,  an,d  is  now  displayed 
in  the  Crystal  Palace  of  New-York.  It  is  entirely  com- 
posed of  California  gold,  and  is  valued  at  $?000.  Its 
workmanship  is  highly  creditable  to  the  skill  and  taste 
of  the  manufacturers. 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


Among  the  mean9  and  appliances  of  civilised  life 
which  the  ingenuity  of  man  has  appropriated  from  na- 
ture, or  has  himself  invented,  there  is  scarcely  one  which 
holds  a  more  important  place  than  glass.    It  would  be 


beauty  which  it  assumes  at  the  will  of  the  artist  and 
artisan.  We  have  engraved  on  this  page  numerous 
specimens  exhibited  by  J.  Maes,  Gallerie  de  Clichy, 


admired  ruby  glass,  colored  with  suboxyd  of  copper,  or 
with  gold.  Most  of  the  specimens  are  "cased,"  a  term 
applied  to  articles  which  are  made  of  several  successive 


easily  than  the  other,  and  by  dextrous  manipulation 
distributes  it  over  the  whole  surface  ;  or  he  dips  the  ball 
into  a  pot  of  colored  glass,  and  repeats  this  operation 


difficult  to  find  another  material  that  could  supply  its 
place  with  advantage  in  domestic  economy,  and  the  vari- 
ous ornamental  articles  of  elegant  luxury,  while  in  the 
most  important  branches  of  scientific  research,  it  is  of  in- 


Paris,  which  illustrate  some  of  the  useful  applications  of 
glass,  united  with  ornament  of  unexceptionable  grace 
and  propriety.    They  are  made  of  that  variety  of  glass 


layers  of  glass,  each  of  a  different  color.  The  casings 
are  united  into  a  homogeneous  mass  in  the  following 
manner.    The  workman  collects  upon  the  punty  rod  a 


until  all  the  casings  of  different  colors  have  been  ap- 
plied. The  mass  is  then  blown  and  manipulated  in  the 
usual  manner,  and  the  successive  casings  arc  exposed  as 


dispensable  use.  It  were  needless  and  foreign  to  our 
present  object,  to  enlarge  upon  its  perfect  applicability 
to  the  purposes  for  which  it  is  designed,  or  attempt  to 
do  more  than  refer  to  the  thousand  forms  of  use  and 


called  Bohemian,  a  double  silicate  of  potash  and  limo 
with  a  minute  quantity  of  alumina.  The  Vase  and 
Toilet  Service  at  the  top  of  the  page,  are  of  the  much 


ball  of  glass  of  whatever  sort  he  chooses  to  form  the 
body  (usually  colorless),  and  while  the  ball  is  still  red 
hot,  he  applies  a  cake  of  colored  glass  which  melts  more 


the  decorat  ion  requires,  by  cutting  through  them  with 
the  engraver's  wheel. 

Many  of  the  beautiful  articles  in  M.  Maiis'  collection 


THE    NEW -YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


are  gilt.  To  do  this,  metallic  gold  is  precipitated  in  the 
form  of  a  very  finely  divided  brown  powder,  from  a  solu- 
tion of  its  chloride ;  the  precipitate  is  washed,  dried, 


rubbed  up  with  a  proper  flux,  mixed  with  oil  of  tur- 
pentine or  gum  water,  and  applied  with  a  delicate  brush. 
The  vessels  are  now  heated  in  a  muffle,  the  volatile  oil 


escapes,  and  the  flux  melts  and  attaches  the  gold  firmly 
to  the  surface.    When  first  removed  from  the  fire,  th 
gold  is  dull,  yellowish  brown,  and  lustreless,  but  ac- 


quires its  peculiar  color  and  brilliancy  by  friction  of  an  I  The  last  Group  of  Toilet  Bottles  and  Vases  upon  the  I  an  extensive  collection  in  the  Austrian  department,  which 
agate  or  Dlood-stone  burnisher.  |  opposite  page,  and  the  Vases,  &c,  upon  this,  are  from  |  has  the  name  of  E.  Staineb  attached  to  it.    They  are  also 


I sssitt  -  -  -  «**  i ,  soma*  ttSftESfter 


109 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL,  NATIONS. 


The  Guardian  Angel,  a  statue  in  marble,  is  exhib- 
ited by  L.  I  in  mime,  a  sculptor  of  Rome.     This  is  one 


of  the  most  pleasing  of  the  contributions  of  Italy.  The 
good  angel,  in  whose  existence  and  controlling  power 


there  is  scarce  any  one  so  rude  as  not  to  believe,  is  here 
visibly  represented  attending  the  young  boy,  who  looks 


reverently  upwards  to  heed  the  monitions  of  his  celestial 
companion. 


manufactory  at  Limoges,  France.  We  engrave  upon 
this  page  a  pair  of  Candelabra,  gaily  painted  and 
decorated  in  a  style  most  unmistakably  French.  The 


The  adjoining  statue  is  exhibited  by  G.  Mannetti,  an  I  A  rich  and  attractive  display  of  porcelain  is  exhibit 
Italian  sculptor,  resident  in  Dublin.  |  ed  by  Messrs.  Havhand,  Brothers  &  Co.,  from  their 


Vase,  encircled  with  vines,  and  with  a  foliated  bor- 
der, though  abundantly  authorised  by  a  multitude  of 
examples,  does  not  meet  our  views  of  appropriate 
110 


beauty.  Ornaments  in  high  relief  that  break  the 
outline,  and  obscure  the  form  of  the  objects  to  which 
they  are  affixed,  arc  always  objectionable.   The  truth 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


of  this  remark  will  be  apparent  on  comparison  of  this 
with  the  Sevres  vases.    The  vignette  upon  the  vase 


is  beautifully  painted.  The  Covered  Dishes  are  also 
to  be  found  in    Messrs.  Haviland's  collection.  The 


figures  upon  the  covers  are  in  Parian,  and  are  examples 
of  imitative  decoration. 


Messrs.  Rochefobt  <fc  Skarbex,  of  New-York,  exhibit  |  the  ornameDtal  Sideboard,  of  which  we  give  an  engraving  |  upon  this  page.    The  decorations,  according  to  universal 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


The  group  representing  a  SitErnERD  attacked  by  a 
Leopard,  is  exhibited  by  Julius  Franz,  of  Berlin.  This 
is  one  of  the  zinc-castings  for  which  the  foundry  of  M. 


this  group,  and  still  more  in  the  noble  work  which  stands 
opposite,  across  the  area  of  the  dome — the  Amazon  of 
Kiss.    Zinc  castings  come  from  the  mould  in  so  pure  and 


or  bronze.  For  protection  against  rust  they  are  covered 
with  a  bronze  surface.  The  central  statuette  represents 
Marshal  Bluoher  ;  the  one  on  the  left  is  a  copy  of  a  sta- 
t 


Geiss  has  become  celebrated.  This  application  of  zinc 
to  monumental  statuary  was  a  discovery  of  Geiss.  and 


finished  a  state,  that  they  require  very  little  subsequent 
chasing,  their  cost  is  only  one-sixth  or  one-eighth  that  of 


MM 

CENVOItMHASNIoilkT 


tue  erected  by  the  king,  Frederick  William  III.,  to 
General  Von  Scharnhobst;  the  other  to  General  Bulow. 


bronze,  and  by  the  Berlin  process  they  are  covered  with 
a  metallic  surface  which  imparts  the  perfect  aspect  of 
the  bronzes  of  Florence. 

The  three  statuettes  which  follow  are  specimens  of  the 
no  less  celebrated  iron  castings  from  the  Royal  Ieon  Foun- 


has  been  carried  by  him  to  perfection.  Its  entire  success 
as  a  rival  and  substitute  of  bronze  casting  is  shown  in 


dry  of  Berlin.    They  have  all  the  minuteness  of  detail, 
delicacy,  and  perfection  of  works  executed  in  either  zinc 
lis 


The  Butter  Dish  of  silver  is  exhibited  by  Bailey  <fc 
Co.,  Philadelphia. 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


The  bronze  statue  engraved  upon  the  left  of  this  page 
i8  exhibited  by  H.  K.  Brown,  of  Brooklyn,  New-York. 
The  Vase,  which  occupies  the  centre,  is  one  of  the 


Austrian  department,  is  the  excellent  work  of  Hans  Gas- 
ser,  of  Vienna,  by  whom  it  is  exhibited. 

It  represents  Venus  stepping  into  the  bath.  This 


ornamental  bronzes  contributed  by  Lkbolle  Freres,  of 
Paris,  whose  goods  we  have  so  often  had  occasion  to  refer 


is  one  of  the  most  pleasing  and  artistically  executed 
bronzes  in  the  Exhibition. 

The  remainder  of  the  page  is  occupied  by  the  large 


to  in  terms  of  praise.  Its  decorations  are  mythological, 
and  it  stands  upon  a  pedestal  of  black  marble. 

The  bronze  statue  on  the  right,  to  be  found  in  the 


—--  


and  massive  ornamental  Salver,  exhibited  by  Mr.  Angei, 
of  London.  It  was  designed  and  embossed  by  T.  Edwards, 
and  is,  we  presume,  commemorative  of  the  Great  Exhi- 


bition of  1851.  In  the  centre,  Queen  Victoria,  with  the 
insignia  of  royalty,  sits  on  her  horse  and  receives  contri- 
butions from  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe. 


The  central  design  is  surrounded  by  an  ornamental  bor- 
der in  which  are  four  vignettes  which  represent  by  charac- 
teristic figures  and  scenery  the  four  continents,  Europe, 

»8 


Africa,  Asia,  and  America.  The  material  in  whi.hthe 
salver  is  executed  is  silver,  the  surface  of  w'.ich  has 
been  oxydized.    The  decorations  are  in  high  re '.ief. 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


From  various  articles  carved  in  wood  and  exhibited  by  the  manufacturers,  J.  G. 
Lange  (heirs)  of  Obernmergan,  Wurtembcrg,  we  engrave  on  this  page  a  Group  of 


two  figures,  and  a  Crucifixion.  The  figure  of  Christ  is  well  carved,  and  is  surround- 
ed with  an  appropriate  but  not  elaborate  carved  frame. 


We  have  already  had  occasion  to  remark  upon  the  number  and 
general  excellence  of  the  large  pieces  of  ornamental  furniture, 
exhibited  in  the  American  Department.    We  here  introduce  ano 


ther  specimen  which  substantiates  the  observations  then  made — a 
Sideboard  carved  in  rosewood.  It  is  contributed  by  Auguste 
Eliaers,  designer  and  manufacturer,  Cornhill,  Boston. 


The  semi-caryatides  which  support  the  slab  in  front,  rise  gracefully  out  of  the  con- 
struction and  adorn  it.  Agriculture  and  the  chase  are  represented  by  the  two 
figures  above.    The  panels  between,  and  on   each  side,  bear  flowers,  fruits,  and 


grain,  and  the  implements  which  aid  in  cultivating  or  in  gathering  them,  while  the 
arms  and  trophies  of  hunting  decorate  the  topmost  panel  of  all. 


114 


THE    NKW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


THE  AMERICAN  EPHEMERIS  AND  NAUTICAL  ALMANAC. 

STRONOMY,  the  complete  science 
as  we  love  to  call  it,  and  as  it  may 
justly  be  called  in  comparison  with 
other  branches  of  human  know- 
ledge, is  not  wanting  in  her  repre- 
sentations in  the  Crystal  Palace.  It 
would  be  strange  if  it  were  other- 
wise. For,  from  the  most  remote 
ages  of  the  eastern  world,  dimly 
lighted  as  they  are  by  the  faint 
glimmerings  of  traditions,  or  the 
uncertain  interpretation  of  hiero- 
glyphic emblems,  to  the  period  of 
yesterday,  no  science  has  been  so 
thoroughly  and  so  constantly  inter- 
woven with  the  thoughts,  the  pas- 
sions, and  the  business  of  men,  as 
the  science  of  astronomy. 

In  that  noble  court  of  the 
building  which  contains  the  pro- 
ductions of  the  Coast  Survey,  and 
the  instruments  by  which  they  are 
effected,  are  to  be  found  telescopes. 
In  the  French  gallery  are  exhibited 
sextants,  quadrants,  and  circles ;  in 
one  court  is  to  be  seen  an  orrery,  and 
in  another  an  astronomical  globe 
or  a  series  of  astronomical  maps. 
The  special  subject,  however, 
'  *}  of  our  present  notice  is  the  "  Amer- 
ican  Ephemeris  and  Nautical  Al- 
manac," and  a  set  of  new  "  Tables 
of  the  Moon,"  which  may  be  seen 
in  one  of  Mr.  Putnam's  cases.  The 
casual  observer  will  regard  these  books  for 
the  beauty  of  the  typography  only ;  but  as 
their  publication  forms  a  most  important  era 
in  the  progress  of  astronomical  science  in 
this  country,  we  feel  bound  to  invite  the  attention  of  our  readers  for  a  few  mo- 
ments to  this  interesting  topic.  We  will  premise  what  we  have  to  say,  with 
a  succinct  explanation  of  the  nature  and  objects  of  the  work  entitled  "  The 
American  Ephemeris  and  Nautical  Almanac,"  which  we  extract  from  a  report  of 
its  Superintendent,  Capt.  Chas.  H.  Davis,  TJ.  S.  N. 

This  work,  published  annually,  each  number  of  which  consists  of  between 
five  and  six  hundred  pages,  embraces  all  the  elements  necessary  for  determining 
at  any  time  the  absolute  and  relative  places  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  seven  princi- 
pal planets,  of  many  of  the  largest  and  most  useful  of  the  fixed  stars,  together 
with  several  different  series  of  phenomena  for  the  determination  of  longitudes, 
as  occultations  of  fixed  stars  and  planets  by  the  moon,  distances  of  the  moon  from 
fixed  stars  and  planets,  combined  transits  of  the  moon  and  certain  fixed  stars, 
eclipses  and  configurations  of  Jupiter's  satellites,  &c. 

To  these  are  added  the  places  of  the  minor  planets  and  their  elements,  rules 
and  tables  for  practical  use  in  nautical  astronomy  and  land  observations,  new 
rules  and  methods  whenever  invented,  tables  of  tides  and  geographical  positions, 
and  a  chapter  explaining  the  plan  of  the  work  and  the  mode  of  applying  its 
various  parts  in  practice,  in  which  is  included  some  elementary  scientific  in- 
struction. 

These  details  are  the  result  of  numerous,  laborious,  and  complicated  calcula- 
tions. Strict  and  uniform  accuracy  is  an  indispensable  requisite.  In  the  case 
of  the  mariner,  errors  expose  life  and  property  to  danger ;  and  in  that  of  the  as- 
tronomer on  the  land,  they  cause  a  waste  of  time  and  labor,  and  not  seldom  the 
irretrievable  loss  of  valuable  opportunities.  None  of  the  precautions,  therefore, 
that  experience  has  pointed  out  for  the  attainment  of  correctness,  and  for  security 
against  mistake,  are  neglected. 

The  Nautical  Almanac  is  stamped  by  this  circumstance  with  a  peculiar  cha- 
racter. Unfailing  precision  and  exactness  as  the  absolute  conditions  of  its  use- 
fulness and  respectability.  But  every  person  of  experience  knows  that  neither 
such  extensive  computations,  nor  the  printing  of  so  many  figures,  can  be  conducted 
with  entire  freedom  from  error  ;  and  to  remedy  this  defect,  inherent  in  such  pro- 
ductions, the  errors  detected  are  printed,  and  the  corrections  applied,  in  the  sub- 
sequent volumes,  probably  before  the  former  come  into  general  use. 

The  calculations  of  the  Nautical  Almanac  in  reference  to  the  sun,  moon, 
principal  planets,  &c,  are  in  the  case  of  each  one  of  them  based  upon  our  know- 
ledge of  their  motions  and  the  laws  by  which  they  are  controlled,  derived  from 


/     L  - 


the  general  theories  of  celestial  mechanics,  and  from  observations  which,  while 
they  test  the  truth  of  the  general  theory,  lead  to  the  discovery  of  new  facta 
and  data,  to  the  detection  of  other  laws,  and  to  the  inference  of  new  generaliza- 
tions. 

The  observations  thus  employed  comprise  all  the  calculations  of  good  autho- 
rity, which  from  age  to  age  have  accumulated  in  the  rich  treasury  of  astronomical 
science  ;  ending  with  the  latest  publications  of  existing  observatories,  and  going 
back  to  the  beginning  of  authentic  history.  In  order  suitably  to  convey  our 
knowledge  of  the  laws  governing  the  motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies  and  regu- 
lating their  more  or  less  rapid  change  of  place,  and  to  put  this  in  a  form  adapted 
to  the  wants  and  uses  of  the  computer,  numerical  tables  have  been  prepared  of 
the  sun  and  the  planets  separately,  which  constitute  the  abbreviated  expressions 
of  these  laws. 

The  numerical  tables  greatly  facilitate  the  labor  of  computations ;  they  are 
the  computer's  tools  of  trade. 

To  construct  these  tables ;  to  make,  compile,  and  arrange  these  observations ; 
to  discuss  them ;  to  discover  and  investigate  the  theories  and  laws ;  and  to  invent 
that  kind  of  logic,  the  higher  mathematics,  by  which  alone  such  investigations 
can  be  profitably  pursued  and  their  results  succinctly  defined, — have  been  the  oc- 
cupations in  every  enlightened  age  of  the  most  illustrious  genius  and  the  most 
exalted  talents.  And  a  correct  and  well-conducted  astronomical  ephemeris,  which 
comes  up  to  the  latest  standard  of  modern  improvement  and  discovery,  is  to  be  re- 
garded as  the  full  exponent  of  all  this  human  thought  and  labor. 

But  from  this  very  compendious  exposition  of  the  scientific  character  of  the 
"  Nautical  Almanac  and  Astronomical  Ephemeris,"  and  of  the  intellectual  basis 
on  which  it  rests,  it  may  be  well  to  turn  to  an  inquiry  into  its  practical  utility, — 
into  the  manner  in  which  it  has  benefited  mankind ;  for  knowledge  is  always  in- 
strumental in  promoting  the  best  interests  of  humanity. 

The  primary  motive  for  computing  and  publishing  the  Nautical  Almanac  was 
to  promulgate  the  lunar  method  for  determining  the  longitude  at  sea,  and  to  fur- 
nish the  requisite  elements  and  precepts  for  the  computation  of  this  problem. 
This  was  as  early  as  the  year  1767.  Its  appearance  created  a  new  era  in  navigation, 
to  which  it  is  now  acknowledged  to  have  rendered  more  essential  service  than 
any  thing  else  ever  undertaken.  But  the  old  lunar  method  of  Maskelyne  was  very 
defective,  owing  to  the  existing  state  of  astronomical  science  and  instruments.  As 
the  instruments  of  the  seaman  and  the  astronomer,  however,  were  improved,  and  as- 
tronomy itself  advanced,  corresponding  changes  were  made  in  the  Almanac,  which 
since  its  first  foundation  has  always  kept  up  with  the  progress  of  knowledge 
and  art ;  if  not  pari  passu,  at  least  without  lagging  behind  for  any  great  length 
of  time. 

It  was  discovered,  soon  after  its  publication  was  begun,  that  the  work  was  des- 
tined to  obtain  general  circulation  as  an  astronomical  ephemeris  for  the  use  of 
observatories,  and  that  it  would  be  impracticable,  even  if  desirable,  which  it  was 
not,  to  separate  pursuits  of  practical  science  so  closely  allied  to  each  other,  and 
so  effectually  promoted  by  the  same  means.  In  the  progress  of  time,  therefore, 
as  the  pages  of  the  Almanac  were  multiplied  and  their  contents  varied  to  meet 
the  wants  and  convenience  of  nautical  astronomy,  so  the  usefulness  and  suitable- 
ness of  the  work  for  the  daily  duties  of  observatories  was  increased,  until  it  has 
become  no  less  indispensable  to  the  fixed  observer  on  the  land  than  to  the  floating 
observer  on  the  sea.  And  this  could  not  be  otherwise.  The  improvement  of 
navigation  is  intimately  connected  with,  and  dependent  on,  the  improvement  in 
practical  astronomy.  The  security  of  the  mariner,  the  advancement  of  the 
geographer,  and  the  refinements  of  the  astronomical  observer,  are  harmoniously 
united  and  benefited  by  similar  provisions. 

To  these  considerations  the  "  Nautical  Almanac  and  Astronomical  Ephemeris" 
is  indebted  for  its  present  character  and  condition. 

On  the  one  hand,  it  is  the  text-book  of  the  navigator.  It  informs  him  of  his 
place  on  the  ocean,  where  there  are  no  other  guides  than  the  sun  and  stars.  It  is 
his  intellectual  rudder  and  compass ;  without  it  no  shipmaster  leaves  the  shores 
of  the  United  States.  When  he  loses  sight  of  the  last  light-house  or  headland, 
he  turns  to  that  for  his  further  direction. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  the  vade  mecum  of  the  astronomer,  whether  station- 
ary or  travelling.  He  learns  from  it  in  the  fixed  observatory  how  his  instruments 
must  be  set  that  he  may  see  any  particular  body,  and  what  is  the  precise  moment 
for  observation  ;  and  in  the  movable  observatory  he  turns  to  its  pages  to  ascertain 
how,  on  any  given  day,  he  can  best  determine  his  latitude  and  longitude,  the  as- 
tronomical bearings  of  his  stations,  and  the  rate  and  error  of  his  chronometer. 
Thus,  as  the  tables  of  the  Almanac  owe  their  origin  to  the  labors  of  the  Observa- 
tories, so  they  repay  the  obligation  by  affording  the  most  ready  and  complete  fa- 
cilities by  which  those  labors  are,  at  the  present  time,  safely  and  expeditiously  con- 
ducted. 

Such  are  the  general  character  and  objects  of  a  Nautical  Almanac ;  but  the 
American  Nautical  Almanac,  besides  sustaining  this  character  and  fulfilling  these 
objects,  will,  it  is  expected,  remedy  some  defects,  and  accomplish  some  special 
ends,  which  no  similar  work  prepared  in  Europe  is  qualified  to  take  into  account. 

And  what  these  ends  are  may  be  gathered  from  a  consideration  of  the  isolated 

115 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


position  of  this  vast  continent  of  North  America,  in  respect  to  the  other  great 
divisions  of  the  globe,  the  enterprising  character  of  the  people,  and  the  wide  ex- 
tent of  territory  that  still  remains  to  bo  explored,  surveyed,  and  settled. 

This  consideration  makes  it  apparent,  that  neither  the  authorities  nor  stand- 
ards of  Europe  can  satisfy  our  demands. 

In  the  useful  arts  of  life,  the  United  States  have  no  superior,  and  but  one 
rival ;  in  the  successful  application  of  the  sciences  to  the  useful  arts,  the  nation 
has  already  accomplished  signal  performances ;  and  in  the  present  case  of  a 
Nautical  Almanac,  which  has  been  regarded  as  a  beneficial  example  of  such 
application  by  every  nation  undertaking  it,  the  very  work  which  consults  the 
practical  wants  of  the  community  has  proved  in  a  high  degree  subservient  to 
the  advancement  of  science  and  the  diffusion  of  sound  knowledge. 

We  learn  from  this  same  report  that  the  American  Nautical  Almanac  has 
made  improvements  upon  the  English  in  the  ephemeris  of  the  moon,  and  that  of 
most  of  the  planets.  To  explain  the  nature  of  these  improvements  would  lead  us 
into  scientific  details  unintelligible  to  the  general  reader.  It  is  sufficient  to  say, 
that  they  have  been  submitted  to  the  leading  astronomers  of  the  world,  and  have 
received  their  entire  approval.  Indeed,  as  we  learn  from  the  preface  and  other 
parts  of  the  work,  Capt.  Davis,  the  Superintendent,  has  associated  with  him 
several  of  the  most  eminent  mathematicians  and  astronomers  of  the  country. 
At  the  head  of  these  is  our  illustrious  physicist,  Professor  Benjamin  Peirce,  of 
Harvard  University,  the  value  of  whose  labors  has  recently  been  acknowledged 
by  his  election  to  the  honorary  fellowship  of  the  Royal  Society  of  London.  The 
"  Tables  of  the  Moon,"  prepared  in  the  office  of  the  Nautical  Almanac,  a  copy  of 
which  is  on  exhibition,  reduce  the  average  errors  in  the  moon's  place,  as  derived 
from  the  old  tables,  to  one-third  of  their  amount,  and  a  distinguished  gentleman 
of  Philadelphia,  Mr.  Miers  Fisher  Longstreth,  has  published  an  improvement  of 
the  lunar  formula,  which  has  probably  reduced  this  remaining  error  by  two- 
thirds.  Mr.  Longstreih's  corrections  have  been  embodied  in  the  new  tables  of 
the  Almanac,  and  thus,  owing  to  the  genius  and  labors  of  Peirce,  Longstreth,  and 
other  distinguished  astronomers,  the  Almanac  has  it  now  in  its  power  to  predict 
the  moon's  place  in  the  heavens  with  a  degree  of  precision,  far  surpassing  any 
thing  heretofore  attained. 

It  may  be  mentioned  among  the  benefits  conferred  by  these  lunar  tables,  that 
they  briDg  into  practical  availability  a  large  number  of  "  moon  culminations," 
as  they  are  technically  called,  observed  by  the  astronomers  of  the  Coast  Survey 
on  the  western  coast  of  the  United  States,  which  have  been  hitherto  lost.  These 
observations  are  made  on  the  land  for  the  nice  and  accurate  determination  of 
geographical  longitudes,  and  in  that  now  difficult  and  extensive  field  of  labor  are 
of  the  highest  importance ;  owing,  however,  to  the  imperfections  in  the  tables 
by  means  of  which  the  place  of  the  moon  in  her  orbit  is  computed,  no  other 
observed  "  moon  culminations  "  can  be  usefully  applied  than  those  which  have 
been  correspondingly  observed  elsewhere.  That  is,  these  "  moon  culminations," 
to  be  available,  must  be  observed  at  the  same  date  at  two  different  places.  In 
consequence  of  this  necessity,  some  six  hundred  or  more  of  the  observations 
made  in  California  and  Oregon,  to  be  found  in  the  books  of  the  Coast  Survey, 
have  been  laid  aside  "  for  want  of  moon's  places  more  reliable  than  the  British 
Nautical  Almanac  can  give  us."  (Letter  of  A.  D.  Bache,  Superintendent  United 
States  Coast  Survey,  to  the  Superintendent  of  the  Nautical  Almanac,  November 
20,  1851.) 

These  more  reliable  moon's  places,  such  as  are  sufficiently  accurate  for  imme- 
diate comparison  with  observation,  being  given  by  the  new  tables  of  the  Nautical 
Almanac,  the  heretofore  unavailable  "  moon  culminations  "  are  made  at  once  to 
serve  their  original  purpose,  and  the  determination  of  numerous  geographical 
positions  in  our  recently  acquired  territory  on  the  Pacific  is  rendered  more 
expeditious  and  more  complete. 

We  began  this  compendious  notice  of  the  Nautical  Almanac  by  saying  that  no 
science  had  been  so  engrafted  upon  the  thoughts  and  pursuits  of  men,  as  that  of 
astronomy.  And  this  is  a  reflection  which  naturally  arises  upon  the  mention  of 
an  astronomical  ephemeris,  for  the  business  of  this  ephemeris  is  prediction,  and 
astronomical  prediction,  has  throughout  all  periods  of  the  world's  history  exer- 
cised a  controlling  influence  upon  the  destinies  of  mankind,  though  in  ways 
entirely  dissimilar,  and  by  the  use  of  means  altogether  opposite  and  inharmonious. 

It  has  been  the  misfortune,  and  perhaps  the  reproach,  of  astronomy  that  the 
knowledge  of  its  most  elementary  facts,  such  as  lead  to  astronomical  prediction, 
has  through  long  and  obscure  periods  of  time,  been  perverted  to  the  worst  pur- 
poses of  superstition  and  tyranny. 

The  recent  researches  of  French  and  German  archaeologists  have  shown,  that 
the  mysteries  on  which  the  religious  ceremonies  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  were 
founded,  were  in  a  great  degree  astronomical,  or  rather  to  use  the  correct  word, 
astrological  in  their  character.  It  is  not  difficult  to  conceive  that  this  should  be 
made  the  ground  of  an  undisputed  title  to  supreme  authority. 

When  we  remember  that  in  this  city,  where  education,  both  religious  and 

general,  is  almost  universally  diffused,   impudent   pretensions  advanced  by 

offensively  vulgar  people,  and  even  by  some  of  high  official  and  social  rank, 

to  a  communication  with  the  world  of  spirits,  are  listened   to  with  cre- 

116 


dulity,  we  may  dispense  with  any  labored  effort  to  explain  the  power  to  be 
derived  from  that  knowledge  which  could  predict  the  recurring  phenomena  ol 
the  heavens,  extending  apparently  to  an  intercourse  with  the  gods  themselves. 
The  effect  upon  the  ignorant  of  the  display  of  this  knowledge  would  be  height- 
ened by  the  operation  of  that  deeply  rooted  sentiment  of  our  nature,  which  leads 
us  to  look  upwards  in  religion,  to  see  the  Deity  himself  in  the  visible  works  of 
his  creation  which  contain  the  most  marvellous  manifestations  of  his  wisdom  and 
power,  to  claim  a  mysterious  kindred  with  the  skies,  and  to  endeavor  to  read  in 
them  the  fate  of  men  and  empires.  It  appears  that  among  the  Egyptians,  the 
religion  of  the  people,  the  ceremonies,  customs,  and  political  institutions,  and 
even  the  phases  of  their  individual  life,  were  connected,  through  a  long  series  of 
ages,  with  celestial  phenomena,  in  such  a  way  that  the  character  of  the  nation 
received  its  general  impress  from  this  source. 

The  Egyptian  monuments  and  temples  were  covered  with  symbols  and  em- 
blems of  a  mixed  astronomical  and  religious  signification,  as  for  example,  the 
royal  tomb,  found  by  Champollion  the  younger,  in  the  valley  of  Riban-el-Moluck, 
and  the  well-known  temple  of  Denderah.  On  these,  the  disposition  of  the  pic- 
tures and  of  the  religious  emblems  accompanying  them,  appear  to  unite  an  ex- 
press reference  to  the  functions  of  the  gods  to  which  they  were  consecrated,  with 
the  solar  epochs  they  were  designed  to  commemorate.  Those  hieroglyphic  sym- 
bols, by  which  the  days,  the  hours,  the  months,  and  years  were  denoted,  are 
found  on  the  papyrus,  or  on  the  fragments  of  the  papyrus,  containing  the 
sacerdotal  writings.  Thus  it  seems  that  astronomical  prediction,  under  the  form 
of  astrology,  played  a  principal  part  in  the  worship  of  the  Egyptians,  and  lay  at 
the  foundation  of  the  sacred  mysteries  and  consequently  of  the  institutions  of  its 
priesthood. 

The  same  mixture  of  religious  rites  with  astronomical  prediction  existed  among 
the  other  nations  of  the  East.  That  it  was  so  in  Chaldea  and  Babylonia  we  learn 
from  Scripture.  And  we  know  that  it  is  so  in  China  at  the  present  day,  where 
the  hierarchy  of  the  political  system  is  by  established  usage  assimilated  to  the 
order  of  the  celestial  phenomena. 

The  wonderful  achievements  of  Layard  at  Nineveh  have  unveiled  another 
instance  of  a  religious  establishment  which  recognizes  the  heavenly  bodies  as 
types  of  a  supreme  power,  and  ascribes  to  them  supernatural  influences.  The 
physical  character  of  the  Assyrian  plains,  the  climate,  the  pursuits  and  habits  of 
the  people,  were  all  favorable  in  an  eminent  degree  to  the  observation  of  the 
stars.  An  imperfect  knowledge  of  planetary  and  stellar,  real  and  apparent 
motion,  easily  acquired  under  such  circumstances,  was  applied,  here  as  elsewhere, 
to  astrological  prediction,  and  originated  claims  to  supernatural  agencies  and 
perceptions. 

In  all  that  concerns  this  blending  together  the  periods  and  symbols  of  astro- 
nomical knowledge  with  the  rites,  institutions  and  obligations  of  religion,  wo 
perceive  the  basis  of  learning  and  craft  on  the  one  side,  and  of  ignorance  and 
superstition  on  the  other,  upon  which  the  supreme  ecclesiastical  polity  of  the 
ancients  was  founded. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  say  any  thing  of  what  history  teaches  us,  or  of  what 
philosophy  would  teach  us  if  history  were  mute,  concerning  the  character  of  such 
a  hierarchy,  or  the  condition  of  the  people  over  which  it  exercised  a  despotic  sway. 

But  having  exhibited  astronomical  prediction  in  the  degraded  state  of  a  con- 
federate and  servant  in  the  cause  of  ignorance,  superstition,  and  tyranny,  let  us 
turn  for  a  moment  to  contemplate  it  in  its  modern  and  better  phase. 

And  here  we  behold  it  the  handmaid  and  helpmate  of  that  commerce  which 
has  made  known  to  us  the  most  remote  parts  of  the  earth,  which  has  established 
intercommunication  between  distant  nations,  which  has  fostered  and  strength- 
ened the  ties  of  kindred  and  created  anew  the  obligations  of  friendship  among 
many  people,  which  has  brought  into  activity  the  democratic  element  of  society, 
sustaining  it  till  it  acquired  the  mature  and  sedate  form  and  constitution  of 
manhood,  which  has  successfully  labored  to  plant  that  tree  of  state,  the  roots  of 
which  are  nourished  in  the  plenteous  soil  of  civil  liberty,  and  the  branches  of 
which  drink  the  refreshing  dews  of  Protestant  Christianity. 

Astrology, 

 11  the  gloomy  form 

Of  superstition  dressed  in  wisdom's  garb"— 

recoiled  with  terror  from  the  discoveries  of  the  seventeenth  century,  which  laid 
the  foundations  of  the  modern  science  of  nautical  astronomy,  the  indispensable 
means  and  safeguard  of  our  modern  commercial  intercourse,  which  in  itself  is  the 
very  creator  of  these,  our  modern  Olympic  games,  the  Exhibitions  of  the  Indus- 
try of  all  Nations. 

When  we  revert  to  those  periods  of  the  world's  history  in  which  the  laws  of 
astronomical  prediction  were  but  little  understood,  and  even  perverted  in  that 
little  so  as  to  prevent  the  acquisition  of  further  knowledge,  and  consider  our 
present  state  of  refinement  and  superiority  in  this  respect,  we  will  not  deny  that 
in  the  modern  and  actual  state  of  astronomical  science,  as  represented  in  the 
"  American  Ephomeris  and  Nautical  Almanac,"  we  recognize  one  of  the  symbols, 
durable  and  promising,  of  that  intellectual  dayspring  which  hath  visited  us  from 
on  high. 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


STANDARD  WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES. 

PERHAPS  there  is  no  collection  of  articles  exhibited  in  the  Crystal  Palace  more 
unique  in  itself,  or  more  suggestive  to  the  thoughtful  mind,  than  the  united 
array  of  French  and  American  standard  measures,  weights  and  balances,  on  which 
so  many  now  look  for  the  first  time.  The  high  order  of  workmanship  which  they 
display  cannot  fail  to  arrest  the  attention  of  practised  eyes,  and  not  a  few  will  see 
in  them  their  real  and  fundamental  character  as  legal  standards  of  last  resort. 
The  subject  of  uniform  standards  for  all  species  of  measurements  possesses  peculiar 
interest  and  importance.  At  the  meeting  of  the  American  Association  for  the 
advancement  of  science,  to  be  held  in  Washington  during  April,  1854,  it  is  pro- 
posed to  discuss  the  questions  connected  with  this  subject,  and  especially  to  can- 
vass the  practicability  of  doing  something  towards  effecting  this  longed-for 


not  in  epic  measure,  but  in  that  arithmetical  array  which  distinguishes  alma- 
nacs and  ephemerides.  The  architect,  the  engineer,  the  machinist  must,  step  by 
step,  be  asking  how  much?  and  ever  more  and  more  precise  must  be  their 
arithmetical  response.  The  chemist  and  his  host  of  manufacturing  and  matter- 
using  retainers,  cannot  for  a  moment  spare  that  scientific  court  of  equity,  the 
balance,  before  which  all  deductions  of  theory  and  precepts  of  practice  must  be 
arrayed.  Throughout  all  of  modern  life,  the  fruits  of  the  soil  and  the  products  of 
labor,  the  treasures  of  wealth,  and  even  the  pittance  of  poverty,  are  more  and 
more  undergoing  that  exchange  under  precise  valuations  as  to  quantity  and 
worth,  which  constitutes  traffic  and  commerce.  Thus  are  we  all  in  our  own 
spheres,  weighers  and  mei.burers,  using  as  referees,  standards  whose  precision  and 
integrity  are  our  sole  guarantees  that  no  error  or  fraud  links  in  our  transactions. 
The  history  of  the  weights,  measures,  and  currencies  which  have  prevailed  in 


A 


i  r 


7 


7 


UKITED  8TATES  6TANDAED  BALANCE — NEW  MODEL. 


consummation.  This  may  excuse  our  dwelling  at  considerable  length  on  the 
present  theme. 

We  live  in  a  weighing  and  measuring  age.  The  great  instauration  of  experi- 
mental philosophy  over  which  Bacon  presided,  could  have  no  more  fitting 
emblems  than  the  metre  and  balance.  Physical  science  demands  with  an  ever- 
increasing  rigor,  that  all  natural  researches  shall  be  made  quantitative,  and  that 
statements  both  of  causes  and  effects  shall  express  amounts  and  intensities  with 
scrupulous  precision.  Force,  the  unseen  source  of  all  material  changes  and  trans- 
formations, must  submit  to  be  harnessed  into  close-fitting  formulas,  and  prove 
by  measured  effects  that  its  escutcheon  rightly  bears  the  quartering  of  nature's 
pedigree.  The  great  triumphs  of  physical  astronomy  have  been  plucked  down 
from  the  celestial  vault,  by  the  labor  of  observing  ages,  steadily  directed  to  the 
subordination  of  all  visible  movements  in  the  star-sphere  to  quantitative  laws, 
whereby  from  the  long  past,  the  sky-gazer  catches  a  prophetic  strain  flowing  forth 


such  luxuriant  multitude  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  is  one  of  a  peculiarly 
aggravating  charaoter.  Each  petty  state,  from  time  immemorial,  has  its  own 
arbitrary  set  of  weights,  measures  of  length,  area  and  capacity,  and  money  de- 
nominations, commended  by  no  special  convenience  or  fitness,  and  based  solely 
on  the  usage  of  its  primeval  age.  We  wander  in  a  hopeless  bewilderment  among 
thousands  of  arbitrary  units,  bearing  no  precise  relation  to  any  natural  unit  of 
referenoe,  very  many  of  which  are  so  lost  or  befogged  as  to  make  worthless  the 
records  in  which  they  enter.  How  can  we  ever  know  the  precise  value  of  the 
stadium,  the  libra,  the jugerum,  or  the  as?  How  attain  certainty  in  comparing 
the  thousand  and  one  arbitrary  units  of  history  with  their  present  correlatives  ? 
And  if  the  comparison  were  complete,  what  a  militia  battalion  of  incommensura- 
bles  would  the  muster  present!  a  muster  reminding  one  of  FalstafFs  troops! 
Nothing  but  the  massive  inertia  of  national  ignorance  and  pride  could  induce  the 
political  communities  of  this  commercial  age  to  bear  the  inconveniences  incident 

11T 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


to  such  a  Babel  of  known  and  conjectured  measures.  There  is  a  deplorable 
tyranny  of  conservatism,  a  solid  front  of  inert  unreason,  a  lazy  supplication  for 
slumber  in  the  endurance  of  bearable  ills,  a  stupid  sense  of  nationality,  and  an 
imperception  of  internationality,  which  rise  up  in  leaden  confronting  against  all 
thoughts  and  proposals  of  improvement,  by  recourse  to  a  system  of  universal 
standards,  based  on  direct  and  ever-possible  comparisons  with  nature's  immuta- 
ble units.  One  would  think  that  while  the  area  of  human  knowledge  is  expand- 
ing with  6uch  wondrous  rapidity,  it  would  be  esteemed  a  precious  riddance,  to 
relieve  young  memories  from  that  heavy  burden  of  confusing  names  of  measures 
now  imposed  by  the  commercial  necessities  of  life.  Did  a  single  universal  set  of 
standards  prevail  among  all  nations,  the  instruction  of  youth  might  well  embrace 
one  or  two  more  real  sciences  or  arts  than  is  now  possible,  and  commerce  would 
be  simplified  to  an  inconceivable  extent.  Yet  desirable  as  it  surely  is  to  attain  a 
world-wide  agreement  in  the  use  of  one  set  of  standards,  hopeful  aspirations  can- 
not but  be  chilled  by  a  view  of  the  immense  difficulties  which  obstruct  the  reali- 
zation of  this  end. 


Academy  of  Sciences  to  establish  a  system  of  measures  based  on  nature,  and 
marked  by  no  offensive  nationality  which  could  obstruct  its  universal  adoption. 
England  was  cordially,  but  fruitlessly  solicited  to  participate  in  this  movement. 
The  Academy  had  commissioned  Borda,  Lagrange,  Laplace,  Monge  and  Condorcet, 
to  devise  and  arrange  such  a  system.  In  proceeding  to  execute  this  trust,  the  Com- 
mission considered  the  claims  of  three  natural  length  units.  The  first  was  the 
seconds  pendulum  in  latitude  45° ;  the  second,  the  quadrant  of  the  equator,  and 
the  third,  which  was  finally  adopted,  was  the  quadrant  of  the  meridian.  Each 
of  these  is  a  natural  constant,  subject  to  no  change  while  the  existing  cosmical 
arrangements  prevail.  An  absolute  measurement  of  a  terrestrial  quadrant  is  indeed 
an  impossibility,  but  its  value  is  mathematically  deducible  from  a  limited  portion, 
on  determining  a  correct  value  of  the  earth's  spheroidal  compression ;  a  value, 
however,  not  even  yet  precisely  known.  It  seems  to  us  that  Eater's  pendulum, 
made  perfectly  compensating,  in  vacuo,  and  referred  to  a  standard  locality,  as 
Greenwich  for  instance,  with  a  thoroughly  compared  sub-standard  locality  in 
each  country,  gives  a  natural  unit,  decidedly  preferable  in  many  respects  to  one 


|(Dl  /ml 


UNITED  STATES  MINT  BALANCE. 


The  first  attempt  at  fixing  a  natural,  accurate,  and  universal  standard  is  due 
to  that  eminently  sagacious  philosopher,  Huygens.  His  profound  analysis  of  the 
pendulum  made  him  familiar  with  the  beautiful  property  first  demonstrated  by 
him,  that  the  distance  between  the  centres  of  suspension  and  of  oscillation  is  abso- 
lutely constant  in  all  pendulums  vibrating  in  equal  times  under  equal  forces  of 
gravity.  As  he  perceived,  the  correction  for  gravity  variations  with  the  latitude, 
can  readily  be  applied  with  a  good  degree  of  precision.  Oassini  proposed  a 
natural  unit  derived  from  a  great  circle  of  the  earth.  But  the  time  for  action 
was  still  in  waiting.  Confusion  and  uncertainty  of  measures  were  to  be  meekly 
endured  throughout  Europe,  until  the  French  Revolution  came  rushing  on, 
deranging  all  the  old  habits  of  the  most  scientific  of  nations,  putting  under  ban 
the  prestige  of  the  past  and  infusing  a  young  life  into  the  masses,  potent  enough 
to  overpower  the  inertia  and  ignorance  habitual  with  the  toiling  millions. 
Then  at  last,  it  became  possible  to  resolve  and  to  act  with  that  over-mastering 
energy  which  was  requisite  to  final  success. 

In  1790,  on  motion  of  Talleyrand,  the  National  Assembly  ordered  the 

118 


derived  from  the  subdivision  of  any  possible  arc  on  the  earth's  surface.  A  recur- 
rence to  an  original  pendulum  unit  could  be  had  by  an  easy  experiment,  either  to 
reconcile  discrepancies,  or  to  restore  lost  and  to  verify  distrusted  standards.  But 
to  recover  a  fraction  of  a  meridian  arc,  would  require  a  repetition  of  the  pro- 
tracted geodetic  operations  in  which  the  unit  originated.  There  would  seem  to 
be  no  possibility  of  independent  determinations  by  the  pendulum  on  the  same 
spot,  giving  values  disagreeing  to  the  extent  that  nnits  derived  from  different  arc 
measures  would.  Already  the  original  platinum  metres  of  France,  fabricated  by 
a  mercurial  process,  are  believed  to  have  undergone  an  appreciable  change,  attrib- 
utable to  a  residual  trace  of  mercury.  Moreover,  subsequent  arc  measurements 
show  that  no  single  arc  can  be  correctly  assumed  as  a  standard  for  others,  but 
that  metres  derived  from  different  arcs  would  differ  very  sensibly,  though  not 
enough  to  impair  a  commercial  unit. 

How  are  the  French  standards  now  to  be  verified  ?  By  arc  re-measurement,  or 
by  comparison  with  the  Committee  iron  metres,  or  with  the  contemporary  Academy 
pendulum  determinations?    Perhaps  the  pretensions  of  different  standards  may 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


ere  long  require  the  decision  of  this  point,  and  in  that  case  Kater's  seconds  pen- 
dulum at  Paris  ought  to  have  a  standard  relation  to  the  metre  positively  estab- 
lished, so  that  original  standards  can  be  made  without  stint  or  restriction.  The 
property  of  the  pendulum  which  Huygens  demonstrated,  that  its  centres  of  sus- 
pension and  oscillation  are  reciprocally  convertible,  and  Kater's  simple  adjustable 
weight,  by  which  the  pendulum  can  be  brought  to  oscillate  in  exactly  equal  times 
when  suspended  in  turn  on  the  two  opposite  knife  edges,  which  then  represent 
these  centres ;  these  together,  give  a  most  exact  means  of  determining  the  length 
of  the  seconds  pendulum,  which  length  for  the  same  locality  is  absolutely  con- 
stant. 

But  the  merits  of  the  several  natural  units  became  a  foregone  question  with  the 
Academy  Commission,  when  they  had  decided  to  use  the  quadrant  of  a  meridian, 
and  to  make  the  fundamental  standard  unit  of  metrology,  equal  to  one  ten-mil- 
lionth of  this  quadrant.  "When  the  metre  had  thus  been  adopted,  the  plan  of  the 
Commission  was  marked  by  every  excellence,  and  its  execution  exhibited  the 
highest  energy  and  enthusiasm,  especially  on  the  part  of  those  distinguished  men 
who  measured  the  arc  whence  the  final  metre  was  derived.  A  provisional  metre 
deduced  from  the  Peru  arc  measured  by  Bouguer  and  La  Condamine,  was  adopted 
for  use  during  the  great  arc  measurement,  specially  executed  by  M6chain  and 
Delambre ;  an  arc  prolonged  by  Biot  and  Arago  to  the  Island  of  Formentara  on 
the  South,  and  by  Gen.  Roy  to  the  Isle  of  Wight  on  the  North.  When  the 
results  of  this  measurement  so  triumphantly  consummated  amid  the  disturbances 
of  the  Revolution,  had  been  properly  shaped,  a  new  Commission  of  Weights  and 
Measures  was  constituted,  embracing  a  long  array  of  distinguished  names,  not 
from  France  alone,  but  from  several  other  European  states.  The  list  is  as 
follows :  Berthollet,  Borda,  Brisson,  Coulomb,  Darcet,  Delambre,  Haiiy,  La- 
grange, Laplace,  Lefebvre-Gineau,  Legendre,  M6chain,  Monge,  Prony  and  Van- 
dermonde,  members  of  the  Institute  of  France ;  Lenoir  and  Fortin,  French 
instrument  artists ;  Anae  and  Van  Swinden  from  the  Batavian  Republic,  de  Balbi 
from  Sardinia ;  Bugge  from  Denmark ;  Ciscav  and  Pedrayds  from  Spain  ;  Fabroni 
from  the  Tuscan  Republic ;  Franchini  from  the  Roman  Republic ;  Mascheroni 
from  the  Cisalpine  Republic ;  Multedo  from  the  Ligurian  Republic ;  Tralles  from 
the  Helvetic  Republic ;  and  Vassali  from  Piedmont :  Lavoisier,  Tillet  and  Meunier, 
were  also  associated.  This  Commission  proceeded  from  the  materials  submitted 
to  frame  a  thorough,  unibasal,  universal,  and  decimal  system  of  metrology,  which 
system  was  both  legally  and  practically  adopted. 

The  metre  or  unit  of  length  is  multiplied  and  divided  by  ten  successively,  to 
give  the  other  denominations  of  length,  Latin  numeral  prefixes  being  used  for 
the  submultiples,  and  Greek  ones  for  the  multiples  in  forming  names,  thus :  deca, 
for  ten,  hecto  for  a  hundred,  kilo  for  a  thousand,  myria  for  ten  thousand  ;  deci  for 
(0,1),  one-tenth,  centi  for  (0,01),  one  hundredth,  milli  for  (0,001),  one  thousandth. 
These  prefixes  are  used  with  all  the  basal  units,  thus :  centimetre,  centilitre,  and 
centigramme.  The  are  or  land  unit  is  ten  metres  squared.  The  stere  or  wood 
measure  is  a  cubic  metre.  The  litre  or  unit  of  capacity  measure,  both  dry  and 
liquid,  is  one-tenth  of  a  metre  cubed,  or  a  cubic  decimetre.  The  gramme  or  unit 
of  weight,  is  the  weight  in  vacuo  of  a  cubic  centimetre  of  distilled  water  at  its 
maximum  density,  or  4°  centigrade.  The  franc  or  monetary  unit,  contains  five 
grammes  of  an  alloy  composed  of  nine  parts  of  silver  and  one  of  copper.  Each 
multiple  or  submultiple  can  be  used  as  an  independent  unit :  thus  the  kilometre 
is  the  unit  in  counting  road  distances,  the  millimetre  for  micrometric  measure- 
ments, and  the  kilogramme  for  commercial  weights.  The  Greek  and  Latin 
prefixes  have  only  become  usage  for  the  metre,  litre  and  gramme,  and  usage  only 
derives  the  hectere  and  the  centiere  from  the  are  ;  the  decistere  and  the  centistere 
from  the  stere  ;  and  the  decime,  and  the  centime  from  the  franc. 

This  system,  so  systematical  in  its  parts,  and  so  well  adapted  to  computations 
and  ordinary  convenience,  is  certainly  far  better  than  any  other  which  has  ever 
existed.  It  was  framed  in  the  high  hope  that  it  would  become  universal,  and 
that  it  would  put  an  end  to  the  chaos  of  incommensurable  and  indefinable  units, 
which  has  too  long  harassed  the  world.  If  any  system  becomes  universal,  it  is 
clearly  destined  to  be  this  one,  for  no  other  which  prevails  has  any  systematic 
merit,  or  is  even  entitled  to  be  called  a  system.  Its  progress  shows  that  this 
consummation  is  not  to  be  wholly  despaired  of  in  the  future.  Already  it  has 
been  legalized  in  Spain,  France,  Belgium,  Switzerland,  Holland,  Lombardy,  Mo- 
dena,  Piedmont,  Poland,  and  Greece,  while  the  Zollverein  States  have  adopted  a 
modification  of  the  metre  system.  On  our  own  continent,  too,  this  system  pre- 
vails in  Chili  and  Columbia,  and  has  recently  been  adopted  in  Mexico.  Thus  far 
has  it  progressed :  the  question  now  is  as  to  its  chance  of  gaining  favor  with  the 
sturdy  and  conservative  Anglo-Saxon  nations.  When  we  consider  how  com- 
merce is  yearly  multiplying  international  contacts,  and  rendering  more  sensible 
the  inconveniences  arising  from  manifold  units  of  measure,  it  seems  not  entirely 
impossible  that  in  some  way,  our  generic  self-reliance  may  be  mollified  into 
a  final  conformity,  so  conducive  to  practical  convenience.  On  the  other  hand, 
this  very  extension  of  weighing  and  measuring  among  the  nations,  will  but  add 
to  the  resistance  which  must  always  be  excited  by  the  temporary  inconveniences 
incident  to  such  changes. 

In  return  for  a  complete  set  of  United  States  standards  presented  by  our  gov- 


ernment to  that  of  France,  France  presented  to  the  United  States  in  1852,  a  full 
set  of  her  standard  measures  of  length  and  capacity,  weights  and  balances.  M. 
A.  Vatemere  made  himself  active  in  procuring  the  interchange.  This  presenta- 
tion embraced  a  complete  collection  of  all  the  apparatus,  weights  and  measures 
belonging  to  a  bureau  of  verification  ;  a  brass  metre,  litre,  and  kilogramme,  by 
Gambey,  and  finally,  a  standard  steel  metre  prepared  and  verified  by  Silbormann, 
with  the  utmost  care.  Our  space  prohibits  detailed  references  to  the  numerous 
items  included  in  this  gift,  and  we  must  be  content  with  a  brief  discussion  of  Sil- 
bermann's  metre,  now  at  the  Crystal  Palace.  This  was  laid  off  and  compared  by 
a  new  process  and  comparing  apparatus  of  Silbermann's  invention,  which  cer- 
tainly possesses  peculiar  merit.  It  gives  both  a  line  and  end  measure  standard 
metre,  and  the  comparison  with  the  conservatory  platinum  standard  of  France 
gives  for  its  length  mO. 9999774.  There  is,  however,  reason  for  questioning  the 
present  accuracy  of  the  two  prototype  metres  of  the  State  and  Interior  Depart- 
ments of  France.  They  were  made  from  platinum,  worked  with  the  aid  of  mer- 
cury, which  was  supposed  to  have  been  wholly  driven  off  by  heating,  but  which 
is  now  suspected  of  having  left  a  trace  of  mercury  in  the  body  of  the  bar,  suffi- 
cient by  its  slow  transfusion  and  evaporation  to  have  produced  a  change  of 
structure  and  of  length.  One  is  also  slightly  bent,  and  altogether,  they  are  perhaps 
less  trustworthy  than  their  ruder  iron  contemporaries.  One  of  the  iron  metres  which 
Tralles  retained  from  those  made  under  his  charge  for  distribution  to  the  several 
members  of  the  great  Commission,  was  presented  by  him  to  Mr.  Hassler,  and  is 
now  in  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Weights  and  Measures,  though  it  is  the  property 
of  the  Am.  Phil.  Society.  This  is  doubtless  a  higher  authority  than  Silbermann's 
or  the  Treasury  platinum  metre,  and  we  may  look  for  some  farther  light  on  the 
condition  of  the  two  platinum  prototypes,  from  a  careful  pyrometer  comparison 
between  the  Silbermann  and  Committee  metres. 

Notwithstanding  the  ingenuity  and  ostensible  delicacy  of  Silbermann's  compar- 
ing apparatus,  it  seems  to  us  not  equal  to  Saxton's  pyrometer,  a  specimen  of  which 
very  perfect  instrument  is  now  at  the  Crystal  Palace.  Silbermann's  comparing  ap- 
paratus professes  to  appreciate  one  ten-millionth  of  a  metre  (not  the  one-hundred- 
thousandth,  as  stated  by  Nickles,  in  the  January  No.  American  Journal  of  Science ; 
see  his  accounts  in  January  and  May  Nos.  1853).  Saxton's  pyrometer  is  now  so  ar- 
ranged that  one-twenty-five-thousandth  of  an  inch  is  magnified  into  a  unit  of  gra- 
duation about  one-fourth  of  an  inch  long,  from  which  the  one  hundred-thousandth 
of  an  inch,  or  about  one  four-millionth  of  a  metre  is  easily  read,  and  this  reading 
could,  with  perfect  facility,  be  made  much  more  minute,  if  desired.  Whitworth's 
machine,  which  reads  to  millionths  of  an  inch,  is  not  adapted  to  long  bars,  and 
involves  some  liabilities  to  incidental  errors,  peculiarly  unfitting  it  for  verifying 
length  standards.  The  truth  is,  that  the  minuteness  of  reading  is  no  criterion  of 
positive  practical  accuracy,  for  this  is  contingent  on  numerous  other  circumstan- 
ces of  condition.  It  is  because  the  minimum  reading  in  Silbermann's  arrangement 
quite  exceeds  the  probable  degree  of  correctness  in  magnifying  the  motion  and  in 
appreciating  disturbing  causes,  that  it  is  liable  to  be  over-estimated  in  respect  to 
precision.  In  Saxton's  pyrometer  the  magnifying  of  minute  variations  in  length 
is  effected  in  a  simpler  and  more  reliable  manner  than  in  any  other  arrangement 
now  known  to  us,  and  it  presents  the  advantage  of  being  applicable  to  bars  of  any 
length,  and  of  removing  the  observer  to  such  a  distance  that  the  heat  of  his  body 
is  not  a  sensible  disturbing  cause.  The  rotating  mirror  is  a  peculiarly  felicitous 
device,  which  unites  nearly  all  desirable  elements  for  experimenting  on  the  dilata- 
tions and  contractions  of  bars.  Its  use  in  comparing  and  verifying  the  bars  for 
Coast  Survey  bases,  has  deservedly  established  it  as  a  special  favorite  on  account 
of  its  united  delicacy  and  convenience.  Large  experience  in  its  use  has  not  indi- 
cated any  advantage  from  increasing  its  minuteness  of  subdivision  for  readings. 
Inappreciable  changes  of  temperature  affect  it  sensibly  with  a  bar  six  metres  longf 
when  indeed  it  becomes  the  most  sensitive  of  thermometers.  The  pyrometer 
has  been  the  means  of  leading  to  a  more  perfect  compensation  for  temperature 
variations  in  the  Coast  Survey  base  apparatus,  than  could  have  resulted  from  the 
use  of  any  other  means  now  known.  It  also  affords  the  best  index  of  the  accu- 
racy of  this  compensation  in  each  base  measuring  tube.  It  is  only  applicable  to 
verifying  end  measures.  For  engraving  and  comparing  engraved  lines  on  stand- 
ards, the  arrangement  of  Silbermann  6eems  worthy  of  great  reliance,  as  is 
Troughton's  also. 

The  workmanship  of  the  French  weights,  measures,  and  balances  is  not  gene- 
rally of  that  high  order  which  might  have  been  anticipated,  though  this  fact  will 
excite  no  great  wonder,  when  it  is  known  that  all  these  articles  are  made  by  con- 
tract, and  not  in  a  government  establishment.  The  standards  for  ordinary  com- 
mercial verifications  are  only  capable  of  insuring  moderate  accuracy,  though  for 
the  purposes  intended,  this  is  doubtless  adequate.  There  is  in  these  standards  a 
certain  rudeness  of  aspect  quite  surprising  to  American  eyes,  for  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  in  tools,  implements,  and  utensils,  American  mechanics  have  a  higher 
appreciation  and  a  quicker  sense  of  fitness,  convenience,  and  artistic  expression 
than  is  to  be  found  in  any  other  country.  The  French  standard  wood,  sheet-iron, 
and  tin  measures  of  capacity  for  commercial  verifications,  are  hardly  equal  in  style 
to  the  commonest  buckets  in  our  market,  and  the  balances  corresponding,  have  a 
singular  clumsiness  of  construction.  The  routine  life  of  old  communities,  prevents 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    AJL.L  NATIONS. 


that  bold  freedom  in  style  and  arrangement  of  tools  and  common  utensils  which 
is  so  characteristic  of  our  nation,  not  more  from  original  mechanical  talent,  than 
from  the  perpetual  novelty  of  conditions  which  surround  American  workers. 
There  are  many  foreign  tools  and  implements  on  exhibition  in  the  Crystal  Palace 
which  an  American  would  feel  disgraced  to  use,  on  account  of  their  manifest  clum- 
siness and  maladaptation.  The  axes,  shovels,  picks,  ploughs,  carpenter's  tools,  &c. 
of  this  country  have  a  neatness  and  elegant  adaptation  which  we  vainly  seek  else- 
where. The  French  standards  for  common  use  but  illustrate  the  general  traits  of 
French  utensils.  When,  too,  we  contrast  the  truly  elegant  workmanship  of  Gam- 
bey's  standards  and  his  best  instruments,  with  that  of  these  rude  wooden  mea- 
sures, the  thought  involuntarily  arises,  that  this  contrast  is  a  type  and  perhaps  an 
effect  of  the  wide  difference  of  culture  and  development  between  the  highest  so- 
cial grade  and  the  poor  plebeian  masses,  in  that  enigmatical  nation  which  knows 
how  to  unite  the  profoundest  mathematical  research  with  the  lightest  social  frivo- 
lities. Here,  where  advancement  is  possible  for  all,  where  to  improve  is  both 
nature  and  habit  for  every  well  constituted  mind ;  the  scythe,  the  wheelbarrow, 
the  rat-trap  must  become  the  best  and  cheapest  possible,  or  their  critical  users  will 
learn  to  supersede  them  by  some  better  Yankee  notion.  Rudeness  of  tools  is  proof 
that  their  users  are  not  mentally  quickened  in  their  labors,  and  there  is  a  fearful 
witnessing  to  masses  of  ignorance  and  unreason  in  those  strength-wasting  and  un- 
gainly implements  which  European  laborers  are  content  or  constrained  to  use. 

The  history  of  weights  and  measures  in  the  United  States  follows  closely  the 
usual  type ;  for  it  embraces  a  time  when  weights  and  measures  were  essentially 
local,  referred  to  no  authoritative  standard,  and  only  compared  In  such  a  rude  man- 
ner as  to  leave  a  broad  margin  of  indetermination.  So  manifest  were  the  incon- 
veniencies  of  heterogeneous  denominations  of  coin  or  currency,  that  in  1786  our 
excellent  federal  system  of  decimal  money  was  declared,  and  exclusively  legalized 
by  Congress.  As  early  as  1790,  the  same  year  in  which  the  National  Assembly 
ordered  the  great  reorganization  of  French  metrology,  Mr.  Jefferson  broached 
to  the  House  of  Representatives  the  idea  of  a  decimal  system  of  weights  and 
measures.  In  1795,  the  President  communicated  the  new  French  system  to  Con- 
gress in  a  special  message,  and  a  committee  on  this  and  on  Mr.  Jefferson's  report, 
in  1796  reported  in  favor  of  retaining  the  foot  and  avoirdupois  pound  then  in  use, 
and  of  referring  them  to  the  pendulum.  No  important  legislation  followed,  and 
the  subject  was  left  to  shape  itself  without  any  provision  for  uniform  standards. 
The  inconveniencies  of  this  condition  were  doubtless  in  great  part  obviated  by  the 
fact  of  our  using  the  English  units,  which  our  extensive  commerce  with  Great 
Britain  must  have  kept  tolerably  accurate.  In  1819,  a  Committee  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  proposed  to  adopt  absolute  standards,  derived  from  the 
weights  and  measures  in  common  use,  to  obtain,  through  a  commission,  copies 
of  the  yard,  pound,  wine  gallon  and  bushel,  conforming  to  those  in  general  use  in 
the  United  States,  and  to  procure  and  distribute  copies  of  these  derived  standards 
and  their  comparison  with  and  reference  to  the  seconds  pendulum  and  a  meridian 
arc.  The  bushel  and  gallon  were  also  to  be  defined  by  the  fixed  lineal  dimensions 
of  a  bushel  and  gallon  of  distilled  water,  whose  weights  were  to  be  determined. 

In  answer  to  a  Senate  resolution  of  1817,  the  Secretary  of  State,  John  Quincy 
Adams,  presented  in  1821  the  elaborate  report  on  this  subject  which  so  strikingly 
illustrates  the  power  of  his  wide-grasping  mind,  and  which  became  the  great  guide 
and  moving  force  to  definite,  positive  action.  The  thorough  demonstration  of  a 
signal  lack  of  constancy  and  agreement  between  different  custom-house  and  com- 
mon measures  then  in  actual  use,  left  no  room  for  denying  the  practical  demand 
for  establishing  some  positive  standards,  and  of  doing  all  that  was  requisite  for 
insuring  conformity  thereto.  These  local  discordances  were  rather  of  fact  than  of 
law,  the  legislation  of  different  States  agreeing  tolerably,  while  the  discrepancies 
between  local  standards  were  gross  and  required  rigorous  correction.  He  therefore 
recommended  not  a  grand  system  of  legislation,  but  rather  that  provision  be  made 
"for  the  uniformity  of  fact  by  procuring  and  distributing  to  the  executives  of  the 
States  and  Territories,  positive  national  standards,  conformable  to  the  law."  Dis- 
couraging all  attempts  at  fragmentary  organic  reforms,  and  leaving  to  a  future 
period,  the  work  of  establishing  a  universal  system  of  metrology,  he  urged  the 
first  and  nearest  object,  uniformity  of  fact  under  the  prevailing  system.  It  is  shown 
by  his  recommendation  to  consult  with  foreign  nations  for  the  future  and  ultimate 
establishment  of  general  and  permanent  uniformity,  that  no  one  would  have  prized 
more  highly  than  he,  a  unibasal  and  symmetrical  system  of  mensuration,  had  its 
establishment  been  then  practicable.  Such  success  he  dared  not  hope,  and  he  well 
knew  the  penalty  of  confusion  which  a  grand  failure  would  entail.  Legislation  on 
this  subject  still  halted,  the  first  successful  movement  being  made  by  Mr.  Wood- 
bury in  the  Senate  of  1830,  for  the  comparison  of  the  various  custom-house  stand- 
ards then  in  use.  In  compliance  with  the  Senate  Order,  Mr.  Hassler  made  exten- 
sive comparisons  and  submitted  the  results  in  his  report  of  1832,  a  production 
abounding  in  valuable  metrological  materials,  but  somewhat  deficient  in  digestion 
and  arrangement.  As  instances  of  the  gross  discrepancies  ascertained  to  exist 
among  the  revenue  measures  sent  from  the  various  custom-houses,  it  was  found 
that  the  bushels  ranged  in  capacity  (J.  Q.  Adams'  table)  between  74 J  and  87^ 
pounds  of  distilled  water  ;  the  pounds  from  0970.15  to  7075.52  grains  of  the  mint 
pound,  and  the  yards  from  35.76  to  86.165  inches.    In  these  comparisons,  Mr. 


Hassler  exhibited  a  high  degree  of  skill  and  industry,  and  it  is  a  just  subject  of  re- 
gret that  his  lack  of  conformity  or  acquaintance  with  our  national  temper  and 
peculiarities  has  served  to  prevent  his  labors  from  attaining  due  appreciation,  and 
leading  to  their  proper  effects  on  his  reputation.  He  certainly  achieved  wonders 
in  successfully  conducting  inquiries  so  novel  among  us,  and  withal  so  intrinsically 
difficult  and  laborious,  without  the  aid  of  trained  men  to  bear  part. 

In  1832,  the  Treasury  Department  reported  to  Congress  the  definite  adoption 
as  custom-house  standards,  of  the  following  measures  and  weights,  which  are 
now  the  authentic  final  standards  for  all  general  government  purposes,  and  are 
also  the  bases  of  all  the  standards  distributed  to  the  States  from  the  Office  of 
Weights  and  Measures. 

1st.  The  final  standard  of  length  is  a  brass  scale,  graduated  on  an  inlaid  strip 
of  silver  into  inches  and  tenths  throughout.  This  was  made  for  the  Coast  Survey, 
by  Troughton,  being  copied  as  exactly  as  possible  from  the  English  standard  of  Sir 
George  Shuckbnrgh,  so  as  to  secure  the  most  perfect  identity.  It  is  furnished  with 
microscopes  and  micrometers,  reading  one  ten-thousandth  of  an  inch,  and  it  has  a 
tracer  arranged  for  transferring  its  divisions  to  copies. 

2d.  The  standard  units  of  capacity  measure  are  the  gallon  and  the  bushel.  The 
standard  gallon  contains  58372-2  grains,  or  8'3389  pounds  avoirdupois  of  distilled 
water  at  its  maximum  density,  weighed  in  air,  at  thirty  inches  of  the  barometer. 
The  standard  bushel  contains  543391-89  grains  or  77-6274  pounds  avoirdupois  of 
water  weighed  under  the  above  conditions.  The  mercury  of  the  barometer  is  sup- 
posed to  have  the  temperature  of  62°  Far. 

3d.  The  ultimate  standard  of  weight  is  the  troy  pound,  copied  for  the  U.  S. 
mint,  by  Capt.  Eater,  in  1827,  from  the  imperial  troy  pound,  and  only  0-0012  of  a 
grain  heavier  than  the  British  standard.  This  was  legalized  in  1828,  and  is  used 
at  thirty  inches  of  the  barometer.    It  is  preserved  in  the  Philadelphia  mint. 

The  avoirdupois  pound  contains  7000  grains  and  the  troy  pound  5'760,  or  the 
avoirdupois  pound  is        of  the  troy  pound. 

In  1836,  a  joint  resolution  directed  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  "to  cause  a 
complete  set  of  all  the  weights  and  measures  adopted  and  now  either  made  or  in 
the  progress  of  manufacture,  for  the  use  of  the  several  custom-houses  and  for  other 
purposes,  to  be  delivered  to  the  Governor  of  each  State  in  the  Union,  or  such  per- 
son as  he  may  appoint,  for  the  use  of  the  States  respectively,  to  the  end  that  a 
uniform  standard  of  weights  and  measures  may  be  established  throughout  the 
United  States."  In  1838,  Congress  also  directed  the  preparation  and  distribution 
to  the  States  of  balances  specially  adapted  for  adjusting  weights  and  capacity 
measures. 

The  U.  S.  Department  of  Weights  and  Measures,  of  which  Prof.  Bache  is  now 
the  superintendent,  is  established  in  the  Coast  Survey  Office,  under  the  immediate 
direction  of  Mr.  Joseph  Saxton,  and  it  usually  keeps  employed  seven  mechanicians 
and  six  laborers  in  the  work  of  making  standard  weights,  measures,  and  balances. 
These  standards  are  intended  for  the  supply  of  the  States,  custom-houses  and  mints. 
The  full  State  set  embraces  the  following  items : — 1st.  A  standard  yard  of  brass, 
for  both  end  and  line  measures  graduated  into  feet,  one  foot  into  inches,  one  inch 
into  tenths ;  also  the  yard  into  tenths,  and  one  tenth  into  hundreds.  It  is  a  stand- 
ard at  62°  Fahrenheit.  2d.  A  set  of  standard  liquid  capacity  measures,  consisting 
of  a  gallon,  a  half  gallon,  a  quart,  a  pint  and  a  half  pint.  3d.  A  half  bushel  stand- 
ard of  dry  measure.  4th.  A  set  of  standard  avoirdupois  weights,  including  the 
following :  50  lbs.,  25  lbs.,  20  lbs.,  10  lbs.,  5  lbs.,  4  lbs.,  31bs.,  2  lbs.,  1  lb. ;  also,  a  stand- 
ard one  pound  troy  weight.  5th.  The  following  multiples  and  submultiples  of  the 
avoirdupois  ounce,  8,  4,  2,  and  1  ounces;  5,  4,  3,  2,  and  1  tenths ;  5,  4,  3,  2  and  1 
hundredths ;  5,  4,  3,  2,  and  1  thousandths,  and  5,  4,  3,  2,  and  1  ten-thousandths  of 
an  ounce.  6th.  The  following  troy  ounce  multiples  and  submultiples:  10,  6,  5,  4,  3, 
2,  and  1  ounces ;  5,  4,  3,  2,  and  1  tenths ;  5,  4,  3,  2,  and  1  hundredths  ;  5,  4,  3,  2, 
and  1  thousandths,  and  5,  4,  3,  2,  and  1  ten-thousandths.  7th.  A  set,  containing 
the  three  sizes  of  standard  comparing  balances.  The  largest  sized  balance  is  intended 
to  be  used  with  weights  up  to  50  lbs.  weight  on  each  scale  or  100  lbs.  load;  the 
medium  size,  with  weights  up  to  10  lbs.  on  each  scale  or  20  lbs.  load,  and  the  smallest 
size  with  weights  up  to  1  lb.  to  each  scale  or  2  lbs.  load.  These  limits  can  however 
be  considerably  exceeded  with  safety,  if  required.  With  50  lbs.  to  each  scale,  the 
large  balance,  when  in  good  adjustment,  indicates  one-fiftieth  of  a  grain,  or  one 
thirty-five  millionth  of  the  load;  the  medium  size  with  10  lbs.  to  each  scale  turns 
with  one-hundredth  of  a  grain,  or  with  one  fourteen-millionth  of  the  load,  and  the 
smallest  size  with  one  pound  on  each  scale  sometimes  clearly  indicates  one  thou- 
sandth of  a  grain  or  one  fourteen-millionth  of  the  load  under  the  most  favorable 
circumstances. 

The  Office  of  Weights  and  Measures  is  steadily  and  systematically  executing 
the  orders  of  Congress,  and  a  considerable  portion  of  the  State  sets  have  already 
been  distributed.  The  time  is  near  at  hand  when  each  State  will  be  supplied  with 
authentic  standards,  and  when  it  will  only  remain  for  the  State  governments  to 
complete  uniformity  by  supplying  appropriate  standards  to  each  county. 

The  standard  balances  are  among  the  finest  products  of  American  skill.  Among 
all  the  tools,  implements,  utensils  and  machines  aggregated  in  the  Crystal  Palace, 
the  critical  observer  will  hardly  find  any  thing  superior  in  point  of  workmanship 
to  the  four  standard  comparing  balances,  standing  in  the  Coast  Survey  space.  The 


THE    N  E  W  -  Y  O  R  K    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


largest  of  these  is  the  office  comparing  balance  for  the  heavier  standard  weights. 
The  drawing  of  it  exhibits  the  characteristics  of  what  is  called  the  "  New  Model." 
We  also  give  a  front  elevation  of  the  smallest  sized  State  balance,  pre- 
senting the  peculiar  traits  of  the  "  Old  Model."  The  other  two  balances  exhibit- 
ed are  the  large  and  medium  sized  State  balances  of  the  old  model.  A  compari- 
son of  the  two  models  in  the  two  largest  balances  cannot  but  impress  one  with 
the  superior  grace  and  merit  in  the  composition  of  the  new  one.  It  was  a  balance 
similar  to  this  one  which  received  a  medal  from  the  jury  of  the  London  Exhibition. 
We  cannot  here  do  better  than  to  cite  the  substance  of  Silbermann's  remarks  on 
these  balances,  for  few  men  living  are  as  competent  to  judge  of  their  merits  as  the 
modest  and  thoroughly  scientific  administrator  of  the  Paris  "  Conservatoire  des 
Arts  et  Metiers.''''  In  a  letter  to  M.  Vattemare,  relative  to  the  American  set  of 
weights  and  measures  presented  through  the  latter  to  the  French  government,  he 
says:  "I  will  first  make  known  to  you  the  judgment  of  connoisseurs  relative  to 
the  American  collection,  and  you  may  rest  assured  that  each  piece  has  been  well 
inspected  and  thoroughly  examined.  There  is  but  one  opinion  as  to  the  perfect 
workmanship  of  these  articles ;  the  two  balances  especially  are  the  particular  sub- 
jects of  admiration  by  connoisseurs  and  the  public.  I  cannot  better  testify  the  es- 
teem in  which  I  hold  these  balances  than  by  informing  you  that  I  used  the  smaller 
one  in  adjusting  the  platinum  kilogramme  for  the  London  Exhibition.  Its  con- 
stancy and  sensibility  are  above  reproach,  and  its  delicacy  is  such  that  I  can  weigh 
with  certainty  to  a  half-milligramme.  The  form  adopted  for  these  balances  is  at 
once  severe,  appropriate  for  use,  and  impressed  with  that  noble  coquetterie  which 
is  only  found  in  instruments  emanating  from  a  master  hand.  These  are,  what  they 
are  justly  called,  instruments  of  precision. 

"  What  I  have  said  of  the  gmall  balance  is  still  more  strikingly  true  of  the 
larger  one.  With  ten  kilogrammes  on  each  scale,  the  latter  shows  with  facility  a 
half  milligramme  of  difference  between  the  two  loads ;  that  is  to  say,  one  part  in 
twenty  millions.  This  trial  has  been  many  times  repeated,  as  well  for  my  own 
gratification  as  to  convince  the  skeptical." 

Mr.  Silbermann  then  proceeds  to  express  his  strong  preference  for  the  mode  of 
limiting  the  oscillation  employed  in  them,  and  to  regret  that  the  French  govern- 
ment instead  of  using  the  same,  has  adopted  the  mode  of  estimating  by  the  oscil- 
lations themselves.  He  highly  commends  the  device  used  in  shaping  the  American 
small  weights,  by  using  wire  figures ;  thus  a  straight  line  for  one,  a  V  for  two,  a 
triangle  for  three,  a  square  for  four,  &c.  After  several  other  points  of  approbation 
he  indulges  in  a  most  natural  regret  over  the  yard  measure,  with  its  inches  and 
tenths.  Indeed,  one  living  in  the  full  fruition  of  the  metre  system  could  not  but 
lament  over  such  proof  of  outside  barbarianism.  Let  us  not  despair  of  the  better 
days  when  a  universal  language  of  metrology  shall  purge  away  the  last  vestiges  of 
our  motley  legacy  from  the  primeval  chaos  of  scruples,  grains,  feet,  ells,  and  bar- 
leycorns. 


LATITUDES  AND  LONGITUDES — COAST  SURVEY  METHODS. 

A  MONO  the  great  physical  problems  which  have  tasked  the  scientific  energies 
of  the  last  century,  a  high  rank,  both  in  interest  and  difficulty,  must  be 
awarded  to  the  investigations  and  measurements  made  to  determine  the  geome- 
try and  dimensions  of  the  earth.  As  the  earth's  radius  is  the  basis  of  all 
astronomical  measurements  of  distance,  and  as  the  correct  expression  of  actual 
distances  between  remote  points  on  its  surface,  and  also  the  elements  of 
accurately  projected  terrestrial  maps  and  charts,  are  fundamentally  related  to 
the  grand  results  of  arc  measurements,  a  primary  importance  must  be  conceded 
to  those  geodetic  operations,  from  which  the  earth's  form  and  dimensions  are  de- 
duced. The  time  is  not  far  back  in  the  past,  when  the  earth's  radius  was  only 
known  "  within  a  scantling  of  the  truth  "  ;  but  now  the  accumulation  of  accurate 
and  comparable  measurements  is  giving  a  high  degree  of  precision  not  only  to  the 
value  of  the  equatorial  radius,  but  to  the  fraction  expressing  the  earth's  spheroidal 
compression. 

The  disturbing  effect  of  mountains  on  the  plumb  line,  zenith,  or  local  level, 
has  been  repeatedly  made  out,  and  also  a  class  of  station  errors  or  irregulari- 
ties, not  ascribable  to  any  obvious  surface  inequalities,  has  been  found 
to  produce  minute  but  very  appreciable  discrepancies  between  geodetic  and 
astronomical  latitudes  and  longitudes.  The  earth  is  not  a  sphere  or  even  a 
spheroid;  but  its  mountains  and  its  lack  of  subterranean  homogeneousness  lead 
constantly  to  measurable  inconsistencies  between  the  astronomical  and  lineal 
or  actual  distances  between  stations.  In  other  words,  the  level  surface  traced 
in  its  continuity  around  the  earth,  is  affected  with  sensible  departures  from 
that  particular  spheroid,  which  would  result  from  the  general  problem  of  a  homo- 
geneous rotating  sphere  like  the  earth,  as  also  from  that  spheroid  which  results 
from  a  combination  of  all  the  arc  measurements  hitherto  made.  When  Norwood 
was  determining  the  earth's  circumference,  by  a  mixture  of  chaining  and  pacing, 
between  London  and  York,  whose  latitudes  he  had  observed,  what  would  he  have 


thought  had  he  been  told  that,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  philosophers  would  be 
forced  to  speculate  on  the  irregular  specific  gravities  of  strata,  and  even  be  led  to 
hypothecate  huge  subterranean  caves,  in  order  to  reconcile  astronomical  and  ac- 
tual measurements!  Now  that  the  amount  of  probable  error  in  base  measure- 
ment can  be  reduced  to  six-tenths  of  an  inch  in  seven  miles,  and  that  in  latitudes 
and  even  in  longitudes  by  telegraph,  an  error  of  a  second  of  arc  has  become  some- 
thing gross,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  Bessel's  elements  of  the  earth's  figure,  or  any 
general  elements  which  are  possible,  should  be  found  to  fall  sensibly  short  of  re- 
conciling all  discrepancies.  Yet  it  is  rather  remarkablo  that  station  errors  or  dis- 
crepancies between  geodetic  and  astronomical  results,  amounting  frequently  to 
two  or  three  seconds  of  arc,  and  in  one  instance  to  9!.48,  should  be  found  belong- 
ing to  points  not  far  remote,  and  bearing  no  obvious  relation  to  any  local  attractions. 

The  latitude  and  longitude  of  a  point  are  but  the  terrestrial  co-ordinates  of  its 
position,  by  which  it  is  referred  to  the  equator  and  prime  meridian.    These  terres- 
trial great  circles  are  usually  reputed  to  be  planes,  but  we  doubt  if  more  difficult 
surfaces  ever  courted  mathematical  skill  than  these  very  surfaces  of  reference. 
The  Greenwich  meridian  and  equatorial  circumferences  must  be  indeed  curves  of 
double  curvature,  and  their  corresponding  surfaces,  if  traced  through  the  earth's 
mass,  would  exhibit  a  most  ingenious  and  delicate  complication  of  minute  double 
curvatures.    It  is  the  same  with  all  parallels  and  meridians.    Yet  this  astronomi- 
cal system  of  co-ordinates  for  positions  can  by  no  means  be  dispensed  with, — be- 
cause terrestrial  positions  must  either  be  determined  and  defined  by  their  use,  or 
by  the  slow  and  laborious  process  of  actual  measurement,  combined  with  computa- 
tions necessarily  involving  a  neglect  of  these  same  minor  irregularities  of  the  earth's 
form  and  substance.    No  practical  inconvenience  beyond  the  limits  of  geodetic 
discussion  can  ever  be  felt  from  disagreements  of  so  minute  a  character,  unless  it 
be  in  some  very  transcendental  age.    But  geodetically  it  is  of  high  importance  to 
bring  out,  with  all  possible  cle  'rness,  the  exact  amount  by  which  a  map  projected 
astronomically  would  differ  frcn  one  based  on  geodetic  elements.    Of  course,  all 
maps  must  necessarily  be  constructed  on  geodetic  projections — hence  points  intro- 
duced in  these  with  their  astronomical  co-ordinates,  are  liable  to  be  sensibly  mis- 
placed. But,  if  geodetic  co-ordinates  are  used,  so  as  to  give  the  actual  relations  be- 
tween natural  objects,  any  new  astronomical  determinations  will  seem  to  accuse  the 
map  of  error.    In  the  British  Ordnance  Survey,  the  discrepancy  of  9".5  amounts 
to  an  inch  on  the  scale  (tit.Vs w)  °f  tne  larger  map.    In  the  Coast  Survey,  the  sta- 
tion error  sometimes  amounts  to  five  seconds,  the  ordinary  error  being  from  two 
to  three  seconds.    Are  latitude  and  longitude,  then,  to  mean  what  is  so  generally 
understood  by  them,  or  are  they  to  refer  to  absolute  distances  ?    We  presume  that 
the  geodetic  co-ordinates  must  ultimately  be  universally  adopted  as  the  true  ones, 
and  that  the  difference  between  them  and  the  astronomical,  will  be  regarded  as 
an  error,  for  which  the  astronomical  must  be  corrected.    Yet  the  nautical  com- 
munity may  say  that  as  they  use  astronomical  co-ordinates,  their  charts  should  be 
based  on  them  alone.    This  plea  would  be  entirely  valid,  if  the  quantity  in  ques- 
tion were  not  too  small  to  become  sensible  in  the  nautical  mode  of  observing — as 
in  fact  it  is  and  will  be.    On  land,  a  geodetic  survey  fixes,  once  for  all,  the  posi- 
tions of  its  stations,  so  as  to  supersede  the  necessity  of  continuing  observations. 

The  British  Ordnance  Survey  has  recently  published  its  Astronomical  Obser- 
vations at  twenty-six  stations,  at  most  of  which  is  exhibited  somewhat  of  a  sta- 
tion error.  This  has  had  the  effect  to  call  special  attention  to  the  subject  of  local 
disturbances.  The  attraction  of  Schehallion  Mountain  on  the  plumb  line,  the  de- 
viation of  the  plumb  line  through  47  8  seconds  in  Lombardy  ;  the  deviation  of 
seven  seconds  observed  in  Peru ;  the  three  seconds  of  attraction  by  Table  Moun- 
tain, and  two  seconds  by  Pikel  Berg,  observed  by  Maclear;  and  like  effects  found 
in  the  East  India  Survey,  had  rendered  quite  familiar  the  measurable  character  of 
local  attractions  by  mountains ;  but  the  effect  of  irregular  densities  in  strata, 
though,  of  course,  undoubted,  had  not  generally  been  regarded  as  sensible  or  im- 
portant. That  it  is  so  in  fact,  is  now  clearly  seen.  In  1844,  Prof.  Bache  de- 
tected evidences  of  station  errors  of  this  kind,  and  was  thus  induced  to  adopt  the 
plan  which  has  since  prevailed  in  the  Coast  Survey,  of  making  accurate  latitude 
and  longitude  observations  at  a  series  of  stations  running  through  the  entire  pri- 
mary triangulation,  with  the  express  view  and  purpose  of  developing  these  station 
errors,  and  all  the  facts  bearing  on  the  earth's  figure.  No  less  than  70  latitude  and 
46  longitude  stations  have  already  been  occupied,  giving  a  mass  of  observations 
bearing  on  geodesy,  the  value  of  which  can  only  become  fully  known  by  their 
publication.  So  far  from  their  testifying  to  a  symmetrical  spheroid,  they  are 
laden  with  a  series  of  well-defined  station  errors  which  may  almost  furnish  an 
earth  crust  sounding  line  to  the  geologists.  We  long  to  see  these  results  consigned 
to  fair  type,  while  the  observers  are  still  living  to  detect  errors  and  divine  conclu- 
sions. We  hope  the  special  appropriation  for  this  purpose,  whioh  has  been  twice 
asked,  will  be  granted  by  Congress,  while  this  subject  has  a  fresh  interest,  and 
before  the  British,  Russian,  and  Hindostan  surveys  have  made  an  old  story  of 
what  would  nowT  reflect  so  much  honor  on  our  country. 

There  is  already  a  considerable  store  of  geodetic  measurements  proper  for  use 
in  discussing  the  earth's  figure.  The  French  arc  of  12°  22'  comes  first  in  order  of 
time,  and  is  of  great  value.  Connecting  with  this,  the  British  Ordnance  arc  of 
near  11°,  botween  49°  53'  and  60°  49' north  latitude,  although  only  just  published, 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


dates  back  to  a  vonerable  antiquity  of  origin.  The  greatest  arc  yet  measured  is 
that  of  Eastern  Europe,  which,  undertaken  in  1816,  has  now  progressed  so  as  to 
include  25J  degrees  of  the  meridian  from  Ismail  on  the  Danube  to  Fiugleness 
in  Finnmarken.  A  provisional  calculation  of  this  has  already  been  made,  the 
Russian  part  of  the  operation  embracing  20°  31'  being  under  Struve,  the  eminent 
astronomer,  and  having  been  throughout  in  high  favor  with  the  Czar.  The 
Swedish  and  Norwegian  portions  of  4°  49'  were  under  the  charge  of  Hansten  and 
S61ander.  A  Southern  prolongation  through  Turkey  and  the  Archipelago  to 
Mount  Ida  on  Crete,  has  been  talked  of  hopefully  (though,  of  course,  it  is 
at  present  impossible),  and  this  would  make  the  entire  arc  amount  to  36°, 
or  one-tenth  of  the  earth's  circumference.  The  Indian  arc  of  21°  21'  be- 
tween Cape  Comorin  and  Kaliana,  was  commenced  under  the  East  India  Com- 
pany by  Major  Lambton,  in  1802,  and  has  since  been  extended  with  a  liberality 
and  accuracy  which,  in  so  difficult  a  country,  are  particularly  commendable.  It 
is  hoped  that  this  arc  which  has  now  crossed  the  Himalayan  range  of  mountains 
may  still  be  extended  north  to  the  Arctic  Ocean,  as  the  Russian  Emperor  is  un- 
derstood to  favor  this  enterprise,  which  of  course  means  that  he  is  ready  to  pro- 
vide the  means  for  its  continuation  through  Asiatic  Russia.  This  would  give  far 
the  longest  and  best  conditioned  arc  ever  measured,  or  even  possible  on  the  earth, 
being  about  60°  in  length.  We  need  not  more  than  enumerate  the  smaller  arcs 
measured  by  Lacaille  and  Cassini,  in  France ;  Boscovich,  in  Italy;  Mason  and  Dixon 
in  the  United  States;  Lacaille,  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope;  Condamine,  in  Peru; 
Maclear,  in  South  Africa ;  and  the  geodetic  results  of  the  surveys  of  Switzerland, 
Holland,  Bavaria,  Baden,  Wurtemburg,  Hesse  Darmstadt,  Hanover,  Brunswick, 
Upper  Italy,  Prussia,  Austria,  Denmark,  and  Sweden,  and  the  British  North 
American  provinces.  The  United  States  Coast  Survey  has  not  yet  published  its 
geodetic  results.  Its  triangulation  is  however  connected  over  an  arc  from  Port- 
land, Me.,  to  Cape  Henry,  Va.,  of  about  7°  in  latitude,  and  6i°  in  longitude.  Within 
this  range  are  two  portions — one  on  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  the  other  from  Nan- 
tucket to  Blue  Mountain,  in  Maine,  where  the  triangles  deviate  but  little  on  either 
side  of  the  meridian.  The  extreme  latitudes  of  this  arc  are  found  by  a  preliminary 
computation  to  correspond  well  with  Bessel's  elements,  a  result  of  the  more  present 
importance,  as  the  Russian  arc  requires  a  diminished  value  of  his  compression. 
When  the  triangulations  of  all  the  Atlantic  sections  are  connected,  an  arc  of  about 
0°2  of  latitude  will  be  embraced,  and  the  arcs  of  parallels  are  of  unusual  extent. 
The  series  of  stations  in  this  scheme  of  triangulation  will  have  their  latitudes  and 
longitudes  determined  more  in  detail,  and  with  greater  aggregate  precision,  than 
belongs  to  any  kindred  operation  now  executed.  We  now  propose  to  give  in  some 
detail,  an  account  of  the  latitude  and  longitude  instruments  and  methods  used  in 
this  great  national  work. 

To  determine  the  latitude  of  a  station,  it  is  only  requisite  to  measure  the  zenith 
distance  or  altitude  of  some  known  stars  at  their  culmination  or  passage  across 
the  meridian.  For  approximate  results,  this  is  one  of  the  simplest  problems  of 
practical  astronomy.  But  where  the  highest  accuracy  is  required,  it  becomes  one 
of  great  delicacy.  A  second  of  arc  being  equal  to  about  100  feet  on  the  ground, 
is  a  great  error  when  a  comparison  is  to  be  made  with  a  triangulation,  the  sides  of 
which  are  correct  probably  to  a  single  foot.  The  measurement  of  angles  in  the 
meridian,  on  the  graduated  arcs  of  portable  instruments  is  so  much  affected  by  un- 
certainties of  refraction  and  instrumental  errors,  that  the  minutest  accuracy  is  only 
to  be  reached  by  nullifying  these  uncertainties  and  errors  as  far  as  practicable.  A 
series  of  careful  experiments  on  various  instruments  was  made  by  Prof.  Bache, 
and  the  result  has  been  that  the  coast  survey  observers  quite  concur  in  preferring 
the  zenith  telescope,  used  according  to  the  method  originated  by  Capt.  Andrew 
Talcott,  late  of  the  U.  S.  Corps  of  Engineers.  Trial  was  first  made  of  a  two-feet 
vertical  circle,  and  of  some  eigh teen-inch  repeating  circles,  made  by  Troughton  & 
Simms,  and  of  Gam  by 's  six,  ten,  and  twelve-inch  repeating  theodolites.  In  all  of 
these  cases,  the  amount  of  instrumental  error  was  so  great  as  to  indicate  the  ad- 
vantage of  adopting  larger  instruments.  Prof.  Bache  then  procured  from  Simms 
a  transit  instrument,  a  zenith  telescope  on  Talcott's  plan,  and  a  zenith  sector,  on 
the  plan  devised  by  Airy  for  the  ordnance  survey,  and  described  in  the  Astronom- 
ical Society  notices.  Telescopes  of  forty-five  inches  focal  length  were  employed 
in  all  these  instruments. 

The  transit,  mounted  in  the  prime  vertical  was  found  to  give  a  few  good  results, 
but  clouds  so  far  interfered  with  observing  corresponding  eastern  and  western 
transits,  as  to  lead  to  the  abandonment  of  this  instrument  for  field  use  where  the 
results  must  be  obtained  in  a  limited  period  of  time.  Airy's  zenith  sector,  after 
full  trial,  has  been  also  essentially  superseded  as  a  field  instrument  by  Talcott's 
zenith  telescope.  Its  great  weight  and  the  excess  of  labor  in  observing  with  it, 
havo  caused  it  to  give  place  to  the  far  lighter  and  more  manageable  zenith  teles- 
cope, which  yields  results  with  more  facility  and  equal  accuracy. 

Visitors  at  the  Crystal  Palace  can  see,  adjacent  to  the  office  of  the  superintend- 
ent of  the  building,  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the  zenith  telescope,  made  for  the 
coast  survey,  by  Mr.  Wurdeman,  of  Washington,  and  containing  all  the  latest  im- 
provements and  modifications  which  experience  has  indicated.  This  instrument, 
as  it  stands,  is  essentially  American,  both  in  its  construction  and  in  its  manner  of 
application. 


To  determine  the  latitude  of  a  place,  by  Talcott's  method,  pairs  of  north  and 
south  stars  are  selected  from  the  star  catalogues,  with  opposite  zenith  distances  of 
less  than  25°  each,  the  difference  between  these  distances  for  any  pair  not  exceed 
ing  about  ten  minutes  of  arc.  The  stars  of  a  pair  shouid  culminate  successively 
with  an  interval  of  from  one  to  twenty  minutes  time,  to  provide  for  reading  and 
reversing  the  instrument.  Having  thus  selected  and  arranged  his  pairs  of  north 
and  south  stars,  the  observer  determines  approximately  his  meridian,  and  marks  it 
with  the  stops  provided  on  the  horizontal  limb ;  he  then  sets  the  instruments  by 
the  level  vernier  to  the  mean  zenith  distance  of  the  pair  to  be  first  observed, 
adjusts  the  level  horizontally,  and  waits  the  coming  of  the  first  star  into  the 
field.  He  then  moves  by  its  screw  the  horizontal  wire,  until  it  covers  the  star  at 
its  culmination.  The  micrometer  and  level  scale  are  then  read,  and  the  telescope 
is  turned  180°  until  checked  by  the  stops,  when  the  transit  of  the  second  star  of 
the  pair  is  observed  in  like  manner  by  means  of  the  same,  or  another  horizontal 
wire.  By  comparing  the  two  readings  of  the  micrometer  and  level  scale,  the  dif- 
ference of  zenith  distance  for  the  star-pair  is  found.  The  values  of  the  micrometer 
divisions  are  readily  determined  with  exactness  by  several  direct  methods ;  and 
the  relative  value  of  a  unit  on  the  level  scale  is  easily  ascertained,  though  this  is 
usually  converted  into  arc,  and  the  readings  applied  as  corrections.  The  effect  of 
refraction  is  only  that  due  to  the  difference  of  zenith  distances,  and  its  uncertainty 
is  almost  totally  overcome,  especially  as  the  two  observations  on  a  pair  are  sep- 
arated by  so  short  a  time.  In  the  instruments  now  used,  the  probable  error  of  a 
single  observation  is  only  half  a  second  of  arc,  while  the  probable  error  of  north 
polar  distance  for  a  star  in  the  British  Association  Catalogue,  is  1-4  of  a  second, 
though  the  Greenwich  Twelve-Year  Catalogue  gives  a  considerable  number  of 
better  positions,  the  probable  error  being  only  0"-<$.  From  this  lack  of  precision 
in  the  catalogue  position  of  stars,  it  is  better  to  multiply  pairs  observed,  than  ob- 
servations on  each  pair.  In  determining  the  latitude  of  an  astronomical  station 
of  the  coast  survey,  from  twenty-five  to  forty  pairs  are  observed  with  three  to  five 
observations  on  each  pair.  From  these  observations,  the  latitude  is  derived  with 
as  much  accuracy  as  is  thought  necessary,  though  if  the  star  catalogues  should  be 
improved,  and  the  effect  of  proper  motions  of  stars  accurately  eliminated,  the  in- 
strument as  it  stands,  could  go  considerably  further  with  no  greater  labor.  The  ac- 
tual number  of  observations  made  is  such  as  to  place  the  error  of  observation  below 
that  of  the  places  of  the  stars.  A  fui '  study  of  this  subject  cannot  fail  to  establish  the 
superiority,  on  practical  and  scientific  grounds,  of  this  American  me'  hod  of  latitude 
determinations.  It  may  as  well  be  stated  here,  that  this  is  not  at  l!1  alike  Gauss's 
method,  as  has  been  supposed  by  a  high  astronomical  authority  in  France. 

That  the  best  mode  of  determining  longitude  differences,  is  wholly  and  peculiarly 
American,  is  a  clear  fact  in  the  history  of  science.  Though  Capt.  Charles  Wilkes, 
U.  S.  N.,  made  the  very  first  use  of  the  telegraph  for  determining  differences  of  lon- 
gitude, yet  the  labor  and  credit  of  giving  practical  shape  and  development  to  this  me- 
thod, is  due  to  Prof.  Sears  C.  Walker,  whose  recent  death  science  still  mourns.  His 
career  in  charge  of  the  department  of  longitudes  in  the  coast  survey,  was  one 
much  redounding  to  our  national  reputation  and  to  the  advantage  of  science.  The 
facility  with  which  American  ingenuity  in  mechanical  contrivance,  met  the  con- 
ditions for  automatic  clock  records,  when  Mr.  Walker  had  pointed  them  out,  and 
the  skill  with  which  accuracy  and  simplicity  were  combined  in  the  several  record- 
ing devices  of  Walker,  Locke,  Mitchel,  Saxton,  and  Bond,  were  truly  characteristic. 
The  history  of  the  several  arrangements  used,  the  discussion  of  their  defects  and 
advantages,  and,  indeed,  the  whole  subject  of  mechanical  or  automatic  recording 
of  astronomical  observations,  is  of  much  interest  and  extent.  To  treat  it  intelli- 
gibly, would  require  much  space,  and  is  rendered  superfluous  by  the  full  informa- 
tion easily  accessible  in  documents  and  journals.  When  we  compare  Mr.  Walker's 
last  labors,  in  which  the  determination  of  longitude  differences  attains  almost  the 
accuracy  of  the  best  latitude  results,  with  the  early  history  of  the  longitude 
problem,  in  which  the  rude  accuracy  demanded  by  practical  navigators,  could 
scarcely  be  reached,  we  see  a  progress  of  the  most  conspicuous  kind. 

Longitude  being  convertible  into  time,  the  problem  of  longitude  differences,  is 
in  fact  but  a  question  of  difference  between  local  times.  How  can  the  local  times 
of  two  distant  stations  be  compared  ?  is  the  fundamental  question.  Simultaneous 
observations  of  an  instantaneous  event,  like  an  eclipse  of  a  satellite  of  Jupiter,  or 
an  intermediate  signal  light  flash,  were  among  the  earliest  and  obvious  modes,  as  the 
difference  between  the  local  times  of  observation  would  give  the  longitude  differ- 
ence. The  transportation  of  chronometers  between  stations  is  another  obvious 
mode,  the  value  of  which  depends  entirely  on  the  number  and  perfection  of  the 
chronometers  thus  compared  with  the  two  local  times.  Again,  the  theory  of  the 
moon's  motion  being  supposed  to  be  perfectly  correct,  observations  on  its  time  of 
culmination,  or  passage  across  the  meridian,  would  give  a  means  of  knowing  the 
difference  between  the  timfe  used  in  computing  the  lunar  tables  and  the  local  time. 
Or  by  observing  the  instant  in  local  time  of  the  occupation  or  covering  of  a  known 
star  by  the  moon's  disc,  and  comparing  this  with  the  lunar  table  time  for  the  same 
event,  the  time  difference  results.  The  modes  at  present  in  uso  for  accurate  lon- 
gitude observations,  are  those  by  chronometers,  by  transits,  eclipses,  and  occul- 
tations,  by  tnoon  culminations  and  by  telegraph.  The  lunar  theory  is  of  such 
exceeding  difficulty  and  complexity,  that  the  combined  resources  of  physical  as> 

[Oontimud  on  page  181. 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


The  specimens  of  ceramic  manufactures  which  are 
illustrated  on  this  page,  are  contributed  to  the  Exhibi- 


pect  a  higher  beauty  and  excellence  both  of  design  and 
manufacture  than  in  private  establishments,  whose  pro- 


The  Tea  Service  which  follows  is  faulty  both  in  form, 
which  is  quadrangular,  and  in  decoration,  the  articles 
being  entirely  covered  and  concealed  by  gilding,  except- 
ing only  the  gaudily-painted  vignettes. 

The  second  Tea  Service  is  better  modelled,  and  hag 
a  very  dark-colored  ground,  upon  which  there  is  a  pleas- 


tion  by  the  Royal  Prussian  Porcelain  Manufactory, 
through  the  agency  of  the  Prussian  Consul. 


ductions  arc  chiefly  regulated  by  the  element  of  price. 
The  Vases,  at  the  top  of  the  page,  are  excellent  in 


This,  like  other  royal  and  national  establishments 
in  Europe,  is  under  the  control  of  the  "government,  and 


respect  to  form  and  decoration,  especially  in  the  manner 
in  which  the  latter  has  been  applied.    The  colors  of  the 


is  supported  by  its  funds.  Its  works  are  produced  with-  I  vase  on  the  left  are  neutral,  with  a  prevailing  tint  of 
out  reference  to  sale,  and  we  are  therefore  entitled  to  ex-  |  grayish  blue. 

128 


ing  decoration  that  indicates  but  does  not  imitate  foliage 
A  Tea  Cup,  prettily  ornamented  with  sprigs  imitat- 
ing red  coral,  is  noticeable  for  unsuitable  construction, 
its  shape  being  such  that  it  could  scarcely  be  emptied  of 
its  contents  without  completely  inverting  it. 

The  design  and  decoration  of  the  massive  Cup  which 
concludes  this  page,  are  far  from  satisfying  the  require- 
ments of  propriety  and  taste.    It  is  almost  covered  with 


gilding,  and  without  sharing  in  the  vulgar  prejudices 
against  the  serpent  tribe,  we  must  protest  against  the 


use  of  reptilian  ornaments  on  table  furniture,  especially 
such  as  peep  curiously  into  tea-cups. 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


Mr.  Carl  Muller,  a  talented  German  sculptor,  residing,  we  believe,  in  New-York, 
exhibits  the  group  in  marble  which  commences  this  page.    It  is  called  the  Minstrel's 


Curse,  and  represents  the   bard  imprecating  vengeance  for  the  death  of  bis  son, 


whose  drooping  form  he  supports  with  his  left  hand.  We  are  not  acquainted  with 
the  legend  which  the  statuary  is  designed  to  embody 

124 


A  statue  of  St.  Jobs  with  the  conventional  symbols  attributed  to  him  by  the 
monks,  is  exhibited  by  Eugenio  Barratta,  of  Carrara. 


The  statue  of  Columbus,  the  "  world  renowned  Genoese,"  is  contributed  to  the  Ex- 
hibition by  Del  Medico  Staffetti,  of  Carrara.  We  understand  that  it  is  copied  from 
a  model  in  plaster  by  Costa,  a  sculptor  of  Florence. 


The  statue  called  Caritas  is  the  work  of  J.  Ernst  von  Ba.vdel.  It  was  sent  to  the 
Exhibition  from  England,  but  was  executed  in  Hanover. 


THE    NEW-YOKK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


Switzerland  is  rich  in  the  number  of  her  forests,  the 
wood  from  which  is  turned  to  account  by  her  frugal  and 


industrious  people  in  every  possible  manner.  In  the  win- 
ter season,  in  the  mountainons  districts,  and  particularly 


There  are  few  who  have  passed  through  Switzerland  and 
have  not  brought  away  some  of  these  pretty  souvenirs  of 


I  their  tour.  We  engrave  some  of  these  articles,  a  Knii^e, 
|  Fork,  and  Spoon,  exhibited  by  Kehrli,  Brothers;  and 


The  Console  Table,  very  richly  and  elaborately  sculp- 
tured in  wood,  in  the  quaint  Raffaelesque  style  of  deco- 


ration, is  exhibited  by  G.  Da  Fieno,  of  Genoa,  Sardinia. 
The  Extension  Table  is  exhibited  by  C.  F.  Hobe,  of 


New-York.  It  is  made  of  oak,  and  is  a  substantial  and 
excellent  piece  of  furniture. 

The  carving  is  kept  within  the  proper  limits  of  decoration 
The  last  engraving  on  this  page  represents  another 


of  the  carved  ivory  Umbrella  Handles  of  Messrs.  Sang- 
ster,  of  London. 


THK    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


The  visitor  in  the  English  Department  of  the  Crystal 
Palace  will  not  fail  to  be  attracted  by  the  magnificent 
display  of  silver  plate,  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Hunt  & 
Roski  ii,  the  eminent  silversmiths  and  jewellers,  of  Lon- 
don, whose  reputation  and  transactions  aro  co-extensive 
with  the  world  of  luxury  and  fashion.  We  are  happy 
to  introduce  on  this  and  the  two  following  pages  of  the 
Record,  several  choice  examples  of  plate,  remarkable  in 
this  country  for  costliness  and  artistic  merit. 

The  Centre  Ornament  and  Plateau,  showing  the  ap- 
plication of  silver  to  ornamental  sculpture,  is  designed 
to  be  used  as  a  stand  for  flowers,  and  as  a  candelabrum. 


On  each  corner  of  the  plateau  are  groups  which  repre- 
sent the  four  seasons.  Of  these  our  engraving  brings 
prominently  into  view,  Flora  attended  by  her  Nymphs 
playing  with  wreaths  of  flowers,  and  personifying 
Spring ;  and  Winter  represented  by  the  aged  Saturnus, 
who  is  seated  on  a  leafless  tree,  and  spreads  his  mantle 
over  shivering  nature ;  he  is  attended  by  an  allegorical 
figure  representing  storms  and  tempests.  The  figures 
not  fully  in  view  are  Summer,  a  female  crowned  with 
wheat  and  carrying  a  sickle;  and  Autumn  typified  bj 
the  figures  of  Silenus,  Bacchus,  and  Pomona.  The 
signs  of  the  zodiac  are  placed  beneath  the  groups. 
126 


At  the  foot  of  the  central  ornament  arc  placed  figures 
which  typify  the  quarters  of  the  world,  each  of  which 
is  attended  by  characteristic  animals. 

On  the  column  an  alto-relievo  represents  the  evolu- 
tions of  Day  and  Night,  attended  by  the  Hours.  The 
stem,  supporting  the  basket,  has  standing  at  its  base 
four  figures  representing  the  Elements. 

The  whole  piece  is  decorated  with  ornaments  in  the 
cinque-cento  style.  The  design  wis  made  and  modelled 
by  Alfred  Brown,  in  Messrs.  Hunt  &  Hoskell's  establish- 
ment. 


THE    NKW-YOKK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED, 


A  tall  silver  Vase  terminated  with  three  dolphins,  is  embossed  with  the 


quaint    female  figures  and  an  allegorical  design,  and  has  it*  sides  pierced  to  show  the  ruby 


Mtd  fanciful  ornaments  of  the  Elizabethan  period. 


«=7 


The  Vine  Vase  is  composed,  as  its  name  indicates,  ot  the  stems  and  foliage  of  toe 
vine.  These  rise  from  the  base,  and  form  a  beautiful  openwork  and  border  of  the 
vase  through  which  the  ruby  glass  lining  shows  its  brilliant  color. 


It  is  followed  by  an  Ice  Pail  or  Wine  Cooler  in  silver,  which  is  decorated  « 


itli 


The  Coffee  Tot,  in  silver  gilt,  is  an  example  of  rich  and  beautiful  decoration. 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


We  continue  our  illustrations  of  Messrs.  Hunt  4 


RoiKKLL's  contributions  by  engraving  an  ErattKl  or  Fruit 


Dish,  which  forms  part  of  a  dessert  service.     The  graceful    basket  of  which  is  supported  by  a  female  figure,  and  resta 
form  of  this  piece  is  in  keeping  with  the  elegant  uses  for    in  a  frame  of  vine  branches  with  clusters  of  grapes, 
which  it  is  designed.    The  next  article  is  a  Cake  Basket  |       The  page  is  concluded  with  two  figures  in  ■  very 


which  has  the  usual  form,  and  is  not  overloaded  with 
ornamental  workmanship. 

It  is  followed  by  a  Coffee  Pot  of  a  similar  general 
character.    The  form  of  this  piece,  and  the  relative 


place  of  the  handle  and  spout  deserve  commendation, 
as  showing  that  use  has  not  been  neglected  to  secure 
some  fancied  elegance. 


light  colored  bronze.  They  are  exhibited  by  Adolpb 
Leconte,  of  New-York,  and  represent  American  Indian 
warriors  executing  the  war-dance  in  their  peculiar  cos- 
tume, and  with  the  weapons  of  their  savage  warfare. 


We  have  placed  between  them  a  Plateau  and  Ewei: 
modelled  by  Guinet  after  the  designs  of  Benvenuto 
Cellini.    It  is  executed  in  Parian,  and  forms  part  of  the 


The  hist  piece  of  this  collection  is  a  Fruit  Dish,  the 
128 


handsome  collection  of  Messrs.  Minton  A  Co. 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


We  continue  our  illustrations  of  the  porcelain  goods 
contributed  by  Messrs.  Haviland  &  Oo.,  of  Limoges,  with 


The  rich  Vase  adjoining,  is  chiefly  noticeable  for  the 
richness  and  beauty  of  the  purple  color,  forming  the 


the  two  illustrations  which  commence  this  page.  The  I  ground.  The  vignette  represents  a  girl  with  a  tambourine 
Wine  Cooler  is  in  every  respect  a  beautiful  production.  |  dancing  with  a  goat. 


Its  decorations  of  vines  and  grapes  are  at  once  appro-  I  The  remaining  illustrations  have  been  selected  from 
priate  and  well  executed,  and  the  vignette  on  the  side,  |  the  goods  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Haughwout  &  Dally,  of 


The  designs  are  chiefly  copies  from  works  executed 
abroad,  and  present,  therefore,  no  point  worthy  of  par- 


ticular remark.  A  Presentation  Vase,  from  the  opera- 
tives to  Mr.  William  Woram,  a  former  partner  in  the 
establishment,  bears  this  gentleman's  portrait.  Two 
Plates,  with  the  cipher  of  the  President  and  the  arms  of 


HCStfilS.jr. 


representing  girla  bathing,  is  painted  with  exqui-  I  New-York.  These  gentlemen  are  engaged  in  decorating 
site  art,  |  porcelain  which  is  imported  or  manufactured  for  them. 

129 


the  United  States,  form  part  of  a  service  for  the  use  ol 
that  functionary. 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


a  Reaper,  as  is  indicated  by  his  sickle  and  sheaf  of  grain. 


Two  beautifnl  Statuettes  in  Parian,  gilt  and  colored, 
are  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Lindslet,  Powell  <t  Co.,  Han- 
ley  Potteries,  Staffordshire.  The  one  on  the  right  repre- 
sents a  Shepherd  boy  in  search  of  lost  sheep  ;  the  other, 


poaelrs.  rc 


The  ornamental  porcelain  Vase  contributed  by 
Messrs.  J.  Rose  &  Co.,  is  commendable  for  elegance  and 
the  beauty  of  its  gilt  and  painted  decorations. 

The  remaining  articles  engraved  on  this  page  are 
among  the  contributions  of  Edward  Saelzer,  of  Eisenach.  |  They  consist  of  two  .terra  cotta  Hanging  Baskets,  of 


whose  elegant  uses  we  have  already  spokeD,  and  two  conservatory  Floweb  Pots,  also 


in  terra  cotta.    These  articles  are  ornamented  with  wreaths  painted  in  gay  colors. 

130 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


Onntinned  from  page  122.] 

tronomy  have  not  even  yet  furnished  lunar  tables  of  all  the  desirable  accuracy. 
Yet  of  all  astronomical  methods,  that  of  moon  culminations,  when  checked  by 
corresponding  and  nearly  simultaneous  observations  on  the  moon's  position,  made 
at  standard  observatories,  is,  on  the  whole  to  be  preferred.  This  check  effectually 
banishes  errors  of  lunar  theory  from  the  results  by  making  the  time  for  error  to 
accumulate  very  brief.  Such  check  observations  are  made  for  the  coast  survey  at 
several  American  observatories,  and  copies  of  the  Greenwich  observations  are 
also  promptly  furnished  by  Mr.  Airy  for  its  use.  Mr.  Walker  gave  a  high  degree 
of  perfection  to  the  method  and  details  of  reducing  moon  culminations.  The  im- 
provements of  lunar  theory  by  Longstreth's  corrections,  Prof.  Pierce's  investiga- 
tions, and  various  contributions  from  other  sources,  as  embodied  in  the  new  Amer- 
ican Nautical  Almanac,  give  hopeful  promise  that  the  time  is  at  hand  when  the 
accuracy  with  which  the  lunar  tables  will  predict  the  moon's  place,  may  be  assumed 
to  exceed  that  of  any  single  observation ;  a  result  which  will  make  the  corre- 
sponding observations  at  standard  observatories  unnecessary. 

But  foremost  and  best  of  all,  where  the  existence  of  telegraphic  connecting 
wires  makes  it  available,  is  the  method  of  comparing  local  times  by  the  magnetic 
telegraph.  An  astronomical  clock  is  arranged  to  make  an  automatic  record  of  the 
seconds  on  a  fillet,  cylinder,  or  disc  of  paper.  The  observer  records  the  instant 
of  observation  by  touching  a  key  which  governs  the  opening  or  closing  of  a  circuit, 
arranged  to  interpolate  an  instantaneous  record  of  the  touch  on  the  same  record 
sheet  which  receives  the  record  of  seconds,  or  clock-beats.  Whether  the  observer 
be  in  the  circuit,  a  thousand  miles  from  the  recording  apparatus,  or  within  touch 
of  it,  whether  he  telegraph  transits  or  clock-boats,  or  whether  the  clock  telegraphs 
its  own  beats,  the  result  is  that  the  local  act  of  opening  or  closing  the  circuit, 
makes  its  instantaneous  record  at  the  recording  station,  which  record  being  duly 
interpolated  among  the  clock  seconds  records,  can  be  read  with  great  exactness, 
and  gives  the  local  time  of  the  key  touch  exactly,  save  the  small  correction  for  the 
time  of  current  transmission,  and  that  for  armature  time.  The  velocity  of  the 
galvanic  current  has  been  found  from  many  experiments,  made  by  transmitting 
signals  successively  in  opposite  directions,  to  be  between  15,000  and  16,000  miles 
in  a  second,  and  to  depend  somewhat  on  the  conducting  medium.  This  instan- 
taneous interchange  of  signals  to  any  extent,  brings  into  the  closest  possible  rela- 
tion the  two  local  times  or  the  longitudes.  Telegraphic  longitude  differences  can 
be  determined  with  an  accuracy  very  nearly  identical  with  that  which  can  be 
given  to  the  local  time  determinations.  The  transit  instrument  used  in  obtaining 
local  times,  gives  to  this  element  a  high  degree  of  accuracy.  One  of  these  instru- 
ments, belonging  to  the  Coast  Survey,  is  exhibited  at  the  Crystal  Palace.  Those 
used  in  this  wortf,  are  from  twenty-six  to  forty-eight  inches  in  focal  length,  and 
are  constructed  by  Simmes  of  London,  and  Wurdeman  of  Washington. 

On  the  whole,  telegraphic  longitude  differences  need  scarcely  fall  short  of  the 
best  latitude  results  in  reliable  accuracy.  Thus  for  the  first  time  has  it  been  made 
possible  to  compare  the  astronomical  and  geodetic  measurements  of  arcs  of  paral- 
lels in  such  a  manner  as  to  give  valuable  results.  The  coast  survey  will  ultimately 
embrace  some  excellent  arcs  of  parallels,  from  the  discussion  of  which  geodesy 
may  expect  some  important  data,  bearing  on  the  earth's  figure. 

To  connect  American  and  European  longitudes  with  the  utmost  possible  accu- 
racy, most  elaborate  observations  have  been  made  by  all  the  prevalent  methods, 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  exact  difference  between  Greenwich  and  Cam- 
bridge Observatory  times.  Great  numbers  of  chronometers  have  been  transported 
across  the  ocean,  a  single  expedition,  under  the  immediate  direction  of  Prof. 
Bond,  carrying  one  hundred  and  seventy-five.  The  accomplished  director  of  the 
Liverpool  Observatory,  Mr.  Hartnup,  united  in  the  observations  necessary  for  this 
expedition,  the  results  of  which  are  undergoing  computation,  under  the  direction  of 
the  Superintendent,  by  Prof.  George  P.  Bond.  The  mean  result  for  the  method  by 
chronometers — that  by  moon  culminations,  and  that  by  occupations,  transits,  and 
eclipses, — strange  to  say,  agree  less  perfectly  with  each  other,  than  the  different 
sets  of  observations  by  each  method  do.  The  adopted  longitude  of  Cambridge 
Observatory  from  Greenwich,  based  on  the  observations  up  to  1851,  is  4h.  44m. 
29.5s.  To  this  point,  all  Coast  Survey  longitudes  are  at  present  referred,  so  that 
a  close  connection  is  established  between  all  well  determined  points  in  both  con- 
tinents. 

An  incidental  reference  to  azimuth  observations,  may  not  be  amiss  here.  In 
conducting  a  trigonometrical  survey,  the  lines  between  stations  must  be  oriented 
not  only  by  latitudes  and  longitudes,  but  the  horizontal  angles  which  they  make 
with  the  meridian,  or  their  bearing  from  the  North,  must  be  measured  at  certain 
stations  by  observations  on  circumpolar  stars.  These  observations  are  made  in 
the  Coast  Survey  at  the  primary  latitude  stations,  with  the  large  thirty  or  twenty- 
four  inch  theodolites,  used  for  measuring  the  horizontal  angles  of  the  triangulation. 
Two  methods  are  in  use,  each  of  which  is  available  both  by  night  and  by  day. 
In  the  first,  circumpolar  stars  are  observed  during  the  forty-five  minutes  preceding, 
and  the  forty-five  minutes  following  their  greatest  eastern  and  western  elonga- 
tions, the  motion  in  azimuth  being  then  very  slow  and  reducible  by  a  simple  for- 
mula. Polaris  is  principally,  and  Delta  and  Lambda  TJrsae  Minoris,  and  51 
Cephei  are  occasionally,  used.  Sets  of  about  seven  symmetrical  observations  are 
made  at  each  elongation.    In  the  second  method,  which  is  peculiar  to  the  Coast 


Survey,  corresponding  observations,  at  equal  times  before  and  after  the  star  cul- 
minates, are  made  in  sets,  which  require  for  their  reduction  nothing  but  the  tak- 
ing of  their  mean.  These  culmination  observations,  of  course,  depend  on  an  accu- 
rate knowledge  of  the  local  time  or  meridian,  an  element  always  necessary  for 
other  purposes  at  each  astronomical  station.  A  meridian  determined  from  the 
fast-moving  equatorial  stars,  by  a  forty-six  inch  transit,  is  exceedingly  accurate  for 
slow-moving  Polaris.  Errors  from  this  source  are  really  trifling  in  comparison 
with  those  which  occur  in  referring  the  star  to  the  horizon.  These  observations 
on  culminations  are  read  on  different  portions  of  the  theodolite  limb,  and  are  thus 
free  from  that  approach  to  identical  readings,  which  exists  in  elongation  records. 
This  method,  though  new,  is  now  much  used,  and  is  found  to  give  results  quite 
equal  to  that  by  elongations.  The  stars  observed,  and  the  arrangement  of  sets  of 
observations,  are  the  same  in  both.  Where  the  theodolite  is  small,  the  star 
image  in  an  artificial  horizon  is  observed  upon  as  a  substitute  for  the  striding 
level.  In  observing  azimuths,  a  lamp  by  night  and  a  mark  by  day,  are  placed  on  the 
same  vertical  about  a  mile  off,  and  the  star  positions  are  referred  to  them  in  the 
first  instance.  The  angle  between  the  lamp  or  mark  and  the  station  is  then  meas- 
ured, either  on  the  theodolite  limb,  or  by  the  micrometer  of  the  telescope.  Ob- 
servations for  both  of  these  angles  require  to  be  so  multiplied  on  successive  days 
and  nights,  as  to  eliminate  the  effects  of  irregular  lateral  refraction.  Thus  at 
Causten's  120,  at  Mt.  Pleasant  70,  and  on  Jehossee  Island  329  observations  were 
made.  When  possible,  fore  and  back  azimuths,  or  those  at  each  extremity  of  the 
line  should  be  observed, — this  furnishing  a  criterion  of  accuracy  and  of  station 
errors.  On  discovering  the  general  prevalence  of  station  errors  on  the  Coast  Sur- 
vey, Prof.  Bache  proceeded  to  multiply  azimuth -stations  very  much,  and  the  fruit 
of  this  is  found  in  the  fact,  that  these  azimuths  give  not  merely  an  independent 
confirmation  of  station  errors  in  a  general  way,  but  even  afford  a  close  numerical 
verification  of  their  precise  amounts :  a  result  truly  surprising  and  we  believe 
quite  without  precedent.  So  much  has  thus  been  achieved  in  making  out  the 
facts  relating  to  local  deviations,  as  manifested  in  these  station  errors,  that  wo 
grow  impatient  to  learn  from  the  pendulum,  if  the  intensity  of  gravity  also  un- 
dergoes variations  corresponding  to  those  of  its  direction. 

In  reviewing  what  has  now  been  said  of  latitudes  and  longitudes,  and  of  the 
means  and  methods  employed  in  determining  them,  we  see  much  occasion  for 
congratulation,  in  the  rapid  progress  hitherto  made  in  giving  perfection  to  the 
ways  and  means  for  these  fundamental  elements  of  geodesy,  in  the  liberal  spirit 
which  actuates  alike  republican  and  imperial  governments  to  contribute  to  the 
practical  development  of  the  earth's  geometry,  and  finally  in  the  honorable  posi- 
tion which  not  even  prejudice  can  deny  to  our  young  nation,  already  the  contrib- 
utor to  science  of  American  methods  for  both  latitude  and  longitude  determina- 
tions, marked  by  superior  simplicity,  practical  facility,  and  accuracy  of  results. 


LITHOGRAPHY. 


A  LOYS  SENEFELDER,  the  inventor  of  lithography,  the  indicator  of  nearly 
all  its  applications,  and  a  man  of  true  genius,  was  born  at  Prague,  in  1771. 
His  father  belonged  to  the  court  theatrical  troupe  of  Munich,  and  was  anxious 
that  his  son  should  become  a  lawyer,  and  sent  him  to  the  University  of  Ingolstadt 
with  that  view ;  but  a  strong  dramatic  inclination  on  the  part  cf  Aloys  fortu- 
nately led  him  to  abandon  legal  studies,  and  to  undertake,  with  true  enthusiasm, 
the  composition  of  dramas.  To  this  occupation  he  joined  the  role  of  an  actor  for 
a  time,  but  after  a  brief  experience  of  the  disgusts  incident  to  this  vocation,  he 
devoted  himself  in  Munich,  to  literary  labor,  passing  through  the  usual  ordeal  ot 
discouragements  which  so  constantly  awaits  an  unknown  author.  A  publisher 
contracted  to  make  a  specified  payment  for  his  works  if  the  printing  was  finished 
at  a  stipulated  time  ;  but  though  the  poor  author  himself  worked  vigorously,  botli 
at  the  case  and  at  the  press,  the  printing  was  not  done  in  time,  and  he  lost  his 
work  both  of  head  and  hand.  Smarting  under  this  infliction,  he  conceived  the 
idea  of  dispensing  with  the  more  costly  aids  of  printing,  and  becoming  a  free  and 
independent  author,  by  doing  every  thing  himself  except  the  buying  and  reading, 
for  which  he  mainly  expected  the  public  to  volunteer. 

It  is  interesting  to  watch  the  progress  of  this  brave  mind,  isolated  by  poverty, 
reduced  to  a  defiant  chartism  in  respect  to  mechanical  ways  and  means,  trying 
one  expedient  after  another,  but  never  conceiving  of  despair  in  this  strugglo 
for  independence.  He  first  invented  stereotyping  in  sealing  wax,  which 
proved  too  brittle  a  material  for  the  purpose.  He  then  had  recourse  to  the 
method  of  writing  in  reverse  on  a  copper-plate  etching  ground  of  varnish,  and 
then  eating  the  letters  into  the  plate  with  acid.  But  this  would  not  do,  for  his 
plate  wore  away  too  fast.  He  then  tried  tin  plates,  but  the  acid  action  was 
found  inadequate.  His  free  recourse  to  erasing  in  these  trials,  consumed 
pumice  stone  to  such  an  extent,  that  the  poor  hero's  pocket  grew  gaunt  under 
the  expense  even  of  this  cheap  material.  Then  it  was,  that  his  memory  recurred 
to  the  white  stones  he  had  seen  on  the  banks  of  the  Iser,  the  true  lithographic 

131 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


stone  qow  alone  used,  and  his  dire  poverty  suggested  that  these  might  replace  the 
pum.ce  stone.  He  tried  them,  and  with  perfect  success.  The  beautiful  surface  and 
polish  of  lithographic  stones  might  have  suggested  to  minds  less  acute  and  observ- 
ing than  Seuefelder's,  the  luxury  of  writing  on  so  fair  a  face.  To  him  it  was  at 
once  clear  that  copper-plates  and  pumice  stones  had  no  longer  a  right  to  eat  out 
his  scant  substance.  On  the  stone,  as  before  on  copper,  he  laid  an  etching  ground, 
with  a  varnish  composed  of  wax,  soap,  and  spirits  of  turpentine ;  then,  with  a 
sharp  point,  he  wrote  through  the  coating  and  etched  the  finished  writing  into 
the  stone.  After  charging  these  lines  with  an  ink  of  linseed  oil,  Frankfort  black 
and  cream  of  tartar,  he  took  impressions  with  a  copper-plate  press.  Poor  Aloys 
struggled  on  from  1791  to  1796  with  the  process  in  this  forlorn  condition. 

In  July,  1796,  as  a  memorandum  for  his  mother,  he  wrote  on  a  stone,  in  the 
lack  of  writing  paper,  a  note  of  some  clothes  which  a  washerwoman  was  about 
taking,  intending  afterwards  to  copy  it.  Before  destroying  this  memorandum, 
it  occurred  to  him  to  try  the  effect  of  etching  it  and  charging  it  with  printer's 
ink  from  a  tampon.  He  thus  in  fact  printed  from  lines  in  relief,  and  from  this 
was  led  step  by  step,  to  observe  that  the  etching  was  unnecessary,  and  so  reached 
the  practice  of  true  lithography.  For  two  years  he  battled  with  embarrass- 
ments and  difficulties.  When  in  company  with  his  friend  Gleissner,  a  musical 
composer,  he  made  the  first  actual  application  of  the  new  art  to  publishing,  by 
printing  some  musical  airs.  In  1799,  Senefelder,  being  pressed  with  work,  and 
because  his  own  writing  was  poor,  employed  a  professional  scribe,  and  began  to 
transfer  his  writing  on  to  stone  as  a  labor-saving  device,  thus  inventing  autogra- 
phy or  transferring.  This  fine  discovery  opened  his  eyes  to  the  fact  that  he  had 
orginated  not  a  mere  evasion  by  which  to  escape  from  harpy  printers,  but  a  new 
art,  capable  of  manifold  applications.  So  early  as  1799  he  had  actually  employed 
pen  drawing,  crayon  designing,  point  engraving,  autography,  transferring  of 
fresh  plate  proofs  and  even  the  transferring  of  old  prints,  the  methods  pursued 
being  essentially  those  now  practised  in  all  their  main  features.  Almost  every 
application  or  modification  of  lithography  now  in  use,  was  first  conceived  and  at- 
tempted by  Senefelder  coarsely  and  with  results  indifferent  perhaps,  yet  positive, 
and  in  idea,  quite  correct. 

This  remarkable  man,  overflowing  with  inventions,  quick  and  versatile  in  his 
conceptions,  enthusiastic  and  bold  in  realizing  his  ideas,  but  too  full  of  genius  to 
perfect  the  minuter  details  of  his  numerous  processes,  and  wasting  his  energies 
often  on  trials  which  a  more  thorough  grasp  of  principles  would  have  obviated, 
this  poor  Aloys  Senefelder,  had  at  last  risen  above  obscurity  and  secured  recogni- 
tion not  as  a  son  of  song,  but  as  one  whose  assurance  of  immortal  distinction, 
even  poets  might  envy.  He  once  answered  a  querist  as  to  how  he  had  made  his 
discovery  of  lithography,  by  saying  rather  characteristically,  "  it  was  in  writing 
the  memoir  of  my  washerwoman."  From  the  time  of  his  conceded  success, 
he  devoted  his  energies  not  only  to  perfecting  his  art,  but  to  the  establish- 
ment of  lithographic  printing  throughout  Europe.  Honors  were  showered 
upon  him  by  kings  and  courts,  chances  of  wealth  were  freely  in  his  grasp ;  but 
he  gave  so  little  heed  to  either,  that  they  scarcely  diverted  his  thoughts  in  the 
least  from  inventive  pursuits.  So  he  lived,  devoted  to  originating  new  processes 
and  applications,  but  with  no  more  capacity  than  a  child  to  direct  large  estab- 
lishments for  their  practice.  He  applied  lithography  to  printing  cloths  and  paper- 
hangings,  experimented  on  artificial  stones  for  lithography,  invented  mosaic  print- 
ing, a  new  stereotyping  process  and  a  lithographic  press,  driven  and  inked  by 
mechanical  power.  While  many  of  his  inventions  became  of  permanent  use,  many 
more  shared  the  fate  of  his  essays  in  directing  balloons,  and  his  solid  blue  for 
dyeing  cloths. 

His  career,  so  stamped  with  the  signs  and  sufferings  of  genius,  was  closed  in 
1834,  at  Munich.  He  died,  63  years  of  age,  honored,  pensioned,  and  beloved,  and 
over  his  grave  rose  a  monument  of  Kehlheim  stone  ;  the  same  which  once  before, 
on  the  banks  of  Iser,  flashed  its  white  pebbles  across  the  memory  of  a  man,  poor, 
struggling,  resolute,  and  perplexed ;  the  same  which  now  throughout  the  world, 
gives  existence  to  an  invaluable  art,  whence  flow  forth  the  means  of  life  to  thou- 
sands and  the  means  of  enjoying  art  to  human  millions.  When  we  recall  the 
concurrence  at  Munich  of  the  three  things  requisite  for  the  discovery  of  lithogra- 
phy, the  man,  the  stone,  and  the  circumstances  which  directed  his  genius  to  this 
end,  the  combination  seems  almost  to  betoken  evidences  of  that  superhuman 
designing,  so  mysteriously  and  profoundly  underlying  the  frame  of  nature  and 
the  progress  of  man's  destiny. 

Lithography  was  established  at  Munich  in  1800,  at  Vienna  in  1802,  at  Koine 
and  London  in  1807,  and  in  Paris  in  1814.  The  details  of  its  rising  fortunes,  the 
various  publications  of  its  modes  and  products,  the  history  of  its  most  distin- 
guished practitioners  and  of  the  most  successful  printing  establishments,  must  not 
long  detain  us  from  the  suly'ect  of  lithograph)  itself.  A  Aw  leading  points  may 
well  be  stated,  especially  the  various  discoveries  of  processes  by  which  it  has 
reached  its  present  condition. 

Manlich,  a  devotee  of  art  in  Munich,  among  other  benefits  to  lithography, 
contributed  the  process  of  printing  flat  tints  for  the  grounds  of  pictures  and  for 
increasing  their  relief.  To  Mitteser,  a  professor  of  design  in  Munich,  is  due,  not 
only  a  great  practical  development  of  crayon  designing,  but  an  important  modi- 


fication of  the  lithographic  press.  Rapp  developed  stone  engraving  in  the  shops 
of  Baron  de  Cotta,  at  Stuttgard.  But  the  introduction  of  lithographic  art  into 
Paris,  the  labors  of  Colonel  Loraet,  and  the  more  successful  efforts  of  Marcel  de 
Serres  ;  the  burst  of  enthusiasm  which  it  awakened,  even  in  artists  like  Vernet, 
Regnault,  and  Isaberg ;  its  fashion  reign,  when  it  prevailed  in  the  Tuileries,  and 
when  the  Duchess  de  Berry  designed  on  stone  much  and  well ;  when  the  Duke 
of  Bordeaux  pulled  proofs,  and  the  Duke  of  Orleans  illustrated  Gulliver's  travels : 
this  whole  episode  is  in  singular  contrast  with  that  of  the  washerwoman.  Such 
a  flood  of  favor  was  however  premature,  and  Paris-like,  it  soon  receded,  leaving 
the  process,  tainted  with  a  bad  name,  to  suffer  an  eclipse  of  undeserved 
neglect.  Fortunately,  Noel  soon  began  to  retrieve  its  good  name,  and  in  1819, 
Englemann  invented  the  process  for  making  half  tints  and  for  grading  out  black 
masses,  by  means  of  ink  washes,  as  in  aqua-tinting;  a  process  which  enjoyed 
much  favor,  though  crayon  shading  was  afterwards  made  to  produce  much  the 
same  results.  Legros  d'Anysi  then  brought  forward  the  practice  of  transferring 
from  copper-plates  to  stone,  and  from  stone  to  pottery.  M.  de  Lasteyrie 
had  invented  an  autographic  process  by  which  writings  made  on  a  specially  pre- 
pared paper,  could  be  transmitted  on  to  stone,  and  facsimile  printing  thus  became 
established.  This,  however,  was  but  one,  and  not  the  greatest  among  his  many 
services  to  lithography.  The  establishment  of  De  Lasteyrie  and  Englemann,  in- 
troduced assiduously  all  those  improvements  in  the  details  of  style  and  modes  of 
work,  which  were  indispensable  to  perfecting  the  products  of  an  art  so  delicaet, 
and  yet  so  facile  in  its  capacities.  Englemann  gave  a  start  and  proficiency  to 
printing  in  colors,  which  none  but  a  truly  scientific  artist  and  a  chemist  could 
have  accomplished ;  hence  color-printing  or  chromo-lithography  has  grown  to  be 
a  principal  department  of  lithographic  practice. 

In  1819,  Senefelder  himself  and  Col.  Raucourt  published  full  treatises  on  the 
art,  which  proved  great  aids  in  establishing  its  wide  practice.  The  superior  skill 
and  knowledge  of  the  French  in  the  chemistry  of  art  generally,  united  with  their 
more  widely  diffused  taste  and  capacity  for  artistic  pursuits,  have  together  given 
to  lithography  in  France,  a  higher  tone  and  quality  than  it  has  elsewhere  exhib- 
ited. Paris  has  outdone  even  Munich,  its  birthplace,  and  the  fine  prints  of 
Berlin  have  been  there  exceeded  in  merit.  Such  well-conducted  establishments 
as  those  of  Count  de  Lasteyrie,  of  Englemann,  of  Thierry,  and  of  Lemercier, 
could  not  fail  to  produce  results  most  favorable  to  the  reputation  of  an  art  pecu- 
liarly liable  to  be  traduced  through  the  bad  execution  and  unscientific  practice  of 
bunglers,  whether  artists  or  printers.  These  establishments  have  indeed  been 
the  best  schools  for  training  thorough  adepts  in  all  branches  of  this  varying  art. 

England  has  also  a  well  earned  title  to  grateful  recognition  in  the  services  it 
has  rendered  to  lithographic  art  and  practice,  more  especially  in  the  landscape 
department.  The  landscape  prints  of  Ward,  Westall,  Harding,  Lane,  and  others, 
the  works  issued  in  rich  profusion  from  Ackermann's  immense  London  establish- 
ment, and  many  others  less  eminent  in  their  claims,  quite  entitle  England  to 
honorable  mention,  not  so  much  for  processes  discovered,  as  for  making  excellent 
use  of  old  ones  and  for  applying  them  admirably  in  a  field  emphatically  her  own. 
In  France,  Bavaria,  Austria  and  Russia,  governmental  aid  has  been  extended  to 
this  art  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  and  perfecting  it,  and  it  is  now  among  the 
permanent  means  of  publishing,  both  prints  and  fac-similes,  in  nearly  all  civil- 
ised countries.  It  is  used  to  an  incalculable  extent  in  printing  bills,  checks, 
scrip,  and  all  the  formal  papers  of  commerce  and  exchange. 

Lithography  is  fully  capable  of  producing  either  most  excellent  or  pre-eminently 
bad  artistic  effects.  It  is  intrinsically  a  most  beautiful  art,  and  one  in  which 
artistic  delicacy  of  touch  may  be  made  to  tell  most  effectively.  But  unfortunately 
it  is  pre-eminent  in  the  facility  with  which  it  can  be  abused  and  perverted  to  the 
most  ignoble  purposes  of  gain.  It  is  due  to  the  fact  that  only  a  small  capital 
in  money,  skill,  or  sense,  is  required  for  starting  an  establishment  to  produce  the 
poorer  kinds  of  lithographic  trash,  that  taste  and  decency  are  so  often  outraged 
by  forlorn  caricatures,  flagrant  daubs,  ghostly  portraits,  bald  and  blotched  maps, 
city  views  through  some  monster  bird'seye,  and  sooty  peeps  into  fogland 
scenery ;  all  of  which  are  alike  offensive  to  art  and  sensibility,  and  damaging  to  the 
reputation  of  that  art  through  which  they  are  produced.  There  is  no  effective 
restraint  on  the  most  desperate  competition,  hence  style  is  sacrificed  to  cheapness 
until  a  depth  of  artistic  turpitude  is  reached,  too  profound  to  tempt  purchasers 
even  among  the  most  benighted  Calibans.  In  our  country,  the  diffusion  of  true 
art  culture  is  generally  assumed  not  to  have  reached  that  point  at  which  the 
highest  efforts  of  skill  become  the  most  productive  to  the  artist;  consequently, 
whatever  capacity  for  the  truest  and  most  elaborate  treatment  of  his  subject  the 
lithographic  designer  may  possess,  he  feels  beforehand  that  skill  will  neither  H 
appreciated  nor  rewarded,  and  thus  he  is  content  to  be  paid  for  an  indifferent  pro- 
duction, on  which  no  time  is  lavished  to  exalt  his  subject  OT  his  art.  This  policy 
is  surely  short-sighted  except  for  mere  hand-to-mouth  living,  and  the  artist  who 
should  rise  to  the  highest  style  of  his  art,  must  thus  soon,  if  not  at  once,  secure 
both  a  better  name  and  a  higher  remuneration.  Certainly  our  public  would  now 
liberally  buy  works  in  a  far  higher  style  than  any  which  lithography  has  yet 
realized  among  us.  The  extensive  market  which  this  country  affords  for  good 
French  lithographs,  Julien's  and  Lassale's  series  of  heads,  the  prints  of  Lemer- 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


cier  and  Ackermann,  wonld  seem  to  show  that  a  still  higher  style,  if  offered,  would 
prove  even  more  attractive  and  remunerative. 

Small  as  is  our  national  allowance  of  lithographic  art,  we  have  even  less  of 
lithographic  science.  Almost  without  exception,  our  practice  is  one  of  dull 
routine,  in  which  no  end  but  wages  is  borne  in  mind.  No  reasoning  on  pro- 
cesses, no  chemistry  of  materials,  no  perception  of  true  art  is  permitted  for  a 
moment  to  jeopardize  the  main  chance.  From  such  a  state  of  things,  it  is  im- 
possible that  improvements  should  arise.  A  deeper  policy,  a  nobler  aim,  a  purer 
spirit  must  have  birth  before  lithography  can  become  among  us  any  thing  but  a 
hired  menial,  a  scavenger  of  jobs,  a  feeder  on  crumbs  which  fall  as  refuse  from 
engravers'  plates.  The  time  surely  must  come  when  American  lithography  will 
manifest  the  attributes  of  a  true  art;  when  the  science  on  which  it  rests  shall  no 
longer  as  now  be  ignored  in  its  workshops,  and  when  having  discovered  its 
higher  vocation,  an  honorable  prosperity  will  replace  the  sharkish  competition 
now  eating  out  the  life  of  aspiration,  and  dragging  down  to  base,  sometimes  the 
basest  uses,  capacities  adequate  to  truly  noble  achievements.  In  this  country 
pre-eminently,  art  needs  to  be  democratic  in  the  best  sense,  and  its  products  to 
be  brought  within  reach  of  the  most  moderate  competence.  Lithography  is 
peculiarly  adapted  to  answer  this  need,  and  under  high-toned  and  judicious  man- 
agement, it  might  be  rendered  a  most  effective  auxiliary  in  training  the  national 
taste  to  that  true  and  critical  appreciation  of  art,  without  which,  sculpture,  paint- 
ing, and  art  decoration  must  languish  in  obscurity,  or  zigzag  through  that  fitful 
galvanic  life  which  fashion  without  taste,  may  patronize  into  spasms. 

Lithographic  stones  are  derived  almost  exclusively  from  Bavaria,  near  Munich, 
the  quarries  of  Pappenheim  and  Solnhoven  contributing  the  principal  portion  for 
the  world.  Other  quarries,  as  for  instance,  those  of  Chateauroux,  Vigan  or  Bel- 
lay  in  France,  and  of  Corston,  near  Bath,  in  England,  have  been  worked  with 
some  success.  The  Bavarian  stones  are,  however,  more  perfect  in  their  compact 
homogeneous  structure,  in  their  stratification,  color,  grain,  and  facility  for  work- 
ing ;  for  which  reasons  they  are  almost  the  only  ones  in  demand.  Except  the 
largest  and  most  perfeci  slabs,  they  are  furnished  at  so  low  a  rate  as  to  leave  no 
great  margin  of  possible  profit  to  induce  competition.  The  stone  is  found  near 
the  surface  overlaying  a  granite,  is  quarried  in  blocks  which  are  split  into  slabs 
by  wedges,  and  then  shaped  by  stone  hammers,  with  a  peculiar  acquired  tact  or 
skill,  and  finally  the  slabs  are  inspected  critically  for  assignment  to  their  proper 
uses.  The  best  are  used  for  crayon  drawings,  a  compact,  clear  grain,  a  uniform 
and  appropriate  absorption  of  water,  an  even  tint,  and  a  freedom  from  crystal- 
line, earthy  or  colored  veins,  from  white  spots  and  iron  stains,  being  the  eviden- 
ces of  excellence.  For  engraving,  the  hardest  stones  are  chosen,  the  best  color 
being  a  slaty  gray,  colored  veins  being  unimportant.  For  pen  or  brush  drawing, 
writing  and  transfers,  general  perfection  is  desirable,  the  particular  shade  and 
grain  being  less  important.  Stones  are  grained  or  polished  according  to  their 
destined  use.  The  graining  is  executed  by  sliding  and  whirling  a  second  grained 
or  polished  stone  on  the  face  to  be  grained,  with  a  sprinkling  of  sand,  kept  well 
wetted  between  the  two  faces,  and  a  grained  stone  is  polished  by  being  rubbed 
with  pumice  stone.  A  careful  adaptation  of  the  graining  or  polish  to  the  subject 
in  hand  is  highly  important  for  success,  as  its  grade  of  fineness  has  a  decided 
effect  on  the  fineness  of  resulting  tints  and  shades.  Grained  surfaces  are  covered 
over  with  minute  granular  hillocks,  which  rasp  off  the  crayon,  giving  a  peculiar 
feel  for  each  grade  of  fineness. 

The  construction  of  the  lithographic  presses  in  common  use  is  quite  peculiar, 
and  does  not  favorably  impress  a  critical  eye.  It  looks  like  a  bungling  relic  of 
an  unmechanical  age,  and  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  it  has  reached  its  final  form. 
Yet  from  Senefelder's  gallows  press,  to  that  now  in  use,  there  is  a  long  array  of 
attempts  at  perfecting  this  confessedly  unsatisfactory  machine,  resulting  doubtless 
in  considerable  improvement,  yet  leaving  much  to  be  desired.  The  printing  pro- 
cess is  as  follows :  The  stone  being  duly  bedded  on  a  solid  table  running  on  rol- 
lers, and  the  drawing  being  wetted  and  inked,  a  sheet  of  moistened  printing  paper 
is  laid  on  its  face  and  covered  by  some  paper  backers.  Then  the  tympan,  a  broad 
sheet  of  leather,  stretched  on  an  iron  frame,  is  folded  down  over  the  stone,  by 
turning  on  a  hinge  joining  it  to  the  bed  plate.  Next  the  bed,  stone,  paper,  and 
tympan,  are  drawn  by  a  hand-crank  movement  under  a  fixed  wooden  scraper  edge, 
which  scrapes  over  the  back  of  the  leathern  tympan,  and  presses  the  paper  very 
strongly  against  the  stone,  by  its  sliding  edge  pressure.  Thus  the  paper  takes  up 
the  ink  perfectly  from  the  drawing.  The  pressure  is  then  thrown  off,  the  bed 
rolls  back  under  the  scraper,  the  tympan  is  folded  out  against  the  scraper  frame, 
the  backers  are  removed,  and  the  printed  sheet  is  stripped  off  from  the  stone. 
The  stone  is  then  wetted  and  inked,  when  the  same  round  is  repeated.  The  ap- 
plication of  power  presses  to  lithographic  printing  lias  thus  far  met  with  but 
equivocal  success.  Yet  mechanical  presses  are  considerably  used,  and  bv  visiting 
Duval's  large  establishment  in  Philadelphia,  or  sundry  European  houses,  the  noise 
of  steam  power  can  be  enjoyed,  though  it  is  still  far  from  certain  that  the  saving 
in  time  for  press  work  is  not  more  than  balanced  by  an  inferiority  in  the  quality 
of  the  product.  A  drawing  has  its  humors,  which  machinery  will  not  regard. 
The  good  printer  constantly  exercises  his  eye  in  treating  the  paper,  moistnre,  ink, 
stone  and  pressure ;  bnt  machines  have  no  eyes.    Possibly  school  atlases  may  be 


well  enough  done  by  machinery,  but  works  having  any  traits  of  art,  must  always, 
we  fear,  be  inked  if  not  pressed,  by  hand.  The  trials  of  this  point  made  in  France, 
are  very  discouraging,  though  better  success  may  be  possible  in  the  future. 

The  theory  of  lithography  is  simple  and  beautiful.  It  is  based  on  the  relative 
adhesions  between  three  materials  :  oily  or  fat  ink,  water,  and  lithographic  stone. 
If  a  drawing  in  fat  ink  be  made  on  the  face  of  a  stone,  its  lines  adhere  firmly,  and 
if  water  be  then  sponged  over  the  stone,  it  also  adheres  so  strongly  to  the  stone 
and  so  slightly  to  the  ink,  that  a  charged  ink  roller  can  be  rolled  heavily  over  the 
face  without  the  ink  penetrating  through  the  water  to  the  stone ;  the  ink  lines 
meantime  becoming  fully  charged  with  ink  from  the  roller.  Thus  by  first  wet- 
ting and  then  inking  a  stone  drawing,  all  its  parts  take  up  the  ink  requisite  for 
an  impression,  and  the  impression  takes  off  this  ink  without  removing  the  linea 
of  the  drawing.  The  order  of  adhesions  (or  of  affinities,  as  it  is  often  incorrectly 
called)  is  first  and  strongest,  of  fat  ink  to  stone ;  second,  of  water  to  stone ;  third, 
of  ink  to  ink,  while  between  ink  and  water  there  is  no  sensible  adhesion.  The 
stone  then  is  merely  a  ground  from  which  water  prints  in  water,  and  ink  prints 
in  ink,  its  agency  in  printing  being  limited  to  this  service  as  a  substratum  for  the 
ink  and  water.  Hence  it  is  apparent  that  the  whole  business  of  the  artist  con- 
sists in  putting  on  the  stone,  in  reverse,  exactly  what  is  to  appear  in  the  print,  and 
in  scrupulously  protecting  the  remaining  portion  against  crayon-dust,  ink  spots, 
finger  marks,  saliva,  soap  stains,  and  whatever  else  is  sufficiently  fatty  or  adhe- 
sive to  print,  as  all  such  blemishes,  whether  visible  or  not,  must  infallibly  appear 
in  the  printing. 

The  printer  must  also  exercise  the  same  protective  precautions,  and  must 
guard  against  breaking,  forcing,  or  filling  any  of  the  artist's  work.  The  artists 
and  printers  are  quite  prone  to  accuse  each  other  of  faulty  execution,  and  cer- 
tainly it  is  necessary  for  each  to  do  his  duty  well,  in  order  to  produce  good 
results.  The  most  perfect  drawing  may  be  quickly  ruined  by  careless  printing, 
while  of  course  no  printer  can  give  better  effects  than  the  artist  has  provided  for. 
A  printer  should  have  a  good  appreciation  of  any  artistic  subject  in  hand,  as  by 
his  management  of  the  inking,  he  can  considerably  vary  the  relative  shade  of 
the  component  parts,  and  can  quite  control  the  general  tone  of  shade.  He  must 
be  careful  to  keep  the  lines  and  shades  clear,  by  timely  sponging  and  washing 
with  acidulated  water  and  gum  arabic  solution,  whereby  the  lines  are  prevented 
from  spreading.  The  worst  possible  faults  in  printing  are,  that  black  cloudiness 
resulting  from  a  spreading  of  the  ink  of  the  drawing,  and  that  white,  ghostly 
look,  which  results  from  the  wearing  of  lines  and  shades,  or  from  imperfect 
inking.  These  defects,  when  they  become  irremediable  by  the  printer,  indicate 
incurable  deterioration,  unless  retouching  by  the  artist  can  repair  the  damage, 
otherwise  the  printing  should  proceed  no  further.  The  number  of  perfect  im- 
pressions which  crayon  drawings  will  give,  ranges  from  about  500  for  the  finest 
up  to  1500  for  the  strongest  ones.  Ink  drawings  yield  a  much  larger  number, 
ranging  from  6000  for  fine  subjects  to  indefinitely  great  numbers  for  coarse  lines, 
over  80,000  copies  of  a  regimental  return  having  been  taken  from  one  written 
copy  in  Munich,  without  deterioration.  Transfers  from  copper  to  stone  yield 
from  1000  to  5000,  according  to  the  quality  of  the  drawing  and  of  the  particular 
transfer.  Transfers  from  engraved  stone  to  plane  stone  print  about  like  cop- 
per and  steel  plate  transfers.  Transfers  from  crayon  are  hardly  regarded  as  prac- 
ticable, since  no  two  stones  of  exactly  similar  grain  can  be  found,  which,  however, 
is  a  fundamental  requisite  for  identity  of  expression  in  the  two  drawings,  as  tho 
taking  of  ink  varies  with  the  peculiar  graining  of  each  ground. 

Few  matters  in  lithography  are  more  vital  to  success  or  require  more  care 
than  the  inks  used  in  drawing  and  printing.  Different  receipts  or  variations  are 
given  for  autographic  ink,  for  lithographic  crayons,  for  brush  and  pen  drawing 
inks,  for  shading  washes,  or  aqua-tints,  for  printing  ink,  for  transfer  ink,  for 
relief-lined  drawing  ink,  and  for  preserving  ink.  The  necessity  of  varying  tho 
ink  to  suit  all  these  cases,  and  of  changing  its  consistency  according  to  the  special 
work  in  hand,  is  not  only  a  practical  deduction,  but  is  evident  when  we  consider 
how  various  are  the  functions  it  subserves.  It  is  highly  important,  and  by  no 
means  easy  to  procure  ingredients  in  great  purities  or  with  constant  combinations 
of  impurities,  as  without  this  guaranty,  the  inferences  from  previous  experience 
become  inapplicable.  To  give  precise  receipts,  the  only  ones  of  any  value,  would 
quite  exceed  our  present  purpose,  and  these  may  readily  be  found  in  technical 
works,  especially  in  the  excellent  manual  of  Knecht  and  Desportes. 

The  paper  used  exercises  a  great  influence  on  lithographic  style.  The  great 
recent  improvements  in  making  and  bleaching  paper,  render  it  quite  practicable 
so  to  vary  the  fabric  as  to  meet  all  ordinary  cases,  but  there  is  always  need  of 
studying  the  specific  conditions  of  a  case  and  of  carefully  conforming  to  then. 
Grit,  sand,  or  harshness  will  soon  deface  a  drawing  on  stone;  and  lithographic 
printing  pape"-,  while  ic  should  have  sufficient  tooth  to  take  the  ink,  should  be 
free  from  these  mechanical  impurities — from  plaster  which  clogs  the  lines,  and  from 
alum  which  attacks  the  gum  on  the  stone  and  soon  ruins  the  drawing.  The 
sizing  in  paper  which  is  requisite  for  strength,  is  quite  unfavorable  for  its  print- 
ing qualities,  and  the  unsized  paper  is  usually  employed  when  it  will  serve,  or  a 
half-sized  one  when  more  strength  is  indispensable.  A  very  high  calendering  or 
polish  of  the  paper  surface  is  also  unfavorable,  though  a  single  calendered  surface 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


is  often  used.  The  fibre,  the  whiteness,  the  fineness,  the  sizing,  the  calendering, 
the  thickness,  the  compactness,  its  size,  weight,  age  or  set,  strength  and  price, 
are  all  very  variable  elements,  and  are  all  important  in  estimating  quality  and 
adaptedness.  Before  printing,  the  sheets,  in  most  cases,  require  to  be  well 
moistened. 

Autographic  printing  is  very  extensively  employed  in  Europe  for  printing 
limited  numbers  of  circulars  and  other  commercial  papers,  forms  for  administra- 
tive and  judicial  purposes,  scientific  programmes  and  courses  of  instruction,  and 
indeed  for  any  matter  of  which  only  a  limited  number  of  copies  is  required.  It 
is  also  considerably  used  for  facsimile  writing,  but  as  the  autographic  paper 
must  be  specially  prepared  and  carefully  protected  from  stains,  as  the  ink  too 
must  be  oily  and  not  easy  to  use,  connoisseurs  will  not  find  autography  very 
inviting.  In  this  country,  at  least,  fac-simile  copies  are  usually  traced  and  trans- 
ferred in  pencil  to  the  stone  and  then  inked.  In  fact,  autography  is  not  here 
used  to  any  considerable  extent,  as  the  job  printers  chiefly  do  the  work  done  by 
the  process  in  Europe,  or  else  the  writing  is  written  in  reverse  on  stone  by  a  pro- 
fessed lithographer.  Bonds,  stock  checks,  ornamented  cards,  &c,  are  thus  pre- 
pared to  a  great  extent. 

Engraving  on  stone  is  much  employed  for  maps,  plans,  mechanical,  architec- 
tural, botanical,  and  other  outline  drawings.  The  lines,  scratched  into  the  stone 
with  a  point,  lack  the  clearness  of  copper  lines,  or  even  of  pen  lines  on  stone, 
yet  with  care,  decidedly  fine  drawings  can  be  thus  executed.  As  these  engravings 
give  proofs  adapted  to  transferring,  there  is  almost  no  limit  to  the  numbers  which 
can  be  obtained  from  a  well  engraved  stone.  The  engraved  lines  take  the  ink 
less  readily  than  drawings  or  transfers,  hence  the  printing  of  engraved  stones  is 
usually  quite  to  the  prejudice  of  the  ink  lines  produced,  done  from  transfers,  if 
considerable  numbers  are  desired.  The  ruling  machine,  and,  if  in  skilful  hands, 
the  etching  process,  may  be  made  to  co-operate  with  the  graver  to  good  effect. 
Engraving  on  stone  for  maps,  for  botanical  illustrations,  &c,  is  much  used  in 
Germany  and  France,  as  its  cost  is  only  about  30  per  cent,  of  that  for  copper 
engraving,  and  as  from  10,000  to  12,000  may  be  printed  from  one  stone  without 
deterioration.  The  "  Flora  of  Brazil,"  contains  1,700  plates  thus  engraved  by 
Knecht.  The  chief  difficulty  is  in  procuring  the  printing  from  engraved  stones. 
Engraving  in  relief  is  a  delicate  and  critical  etching  process  not  much  in  use.  It 
is,  in  fact,  but  a  modification  of  Senefelder's  first  discovery,  and  does  not  admit 
of  sufficient  relief  to  print  in  the  manner  of  wood-cuts. 

Crayon  designing  consists  simply  in  drawing  on  stone  with  a  fat  crayon.  But 
this  simple  process  requires  more  precaution,  more  acquired  skill,  more  delicacy 
of  touch  than  one  can  readily  conceive,  and  the  artist  must  carefully  watch  the 
grain  of  the  stone,  its  thorough  protection,  the  working  of  his  crayon,  and  a  mul- 
titude of  minor  things  indicated  by  experience.  He  must  guard  against  the  need 
of  erasures,  and  as  far  as  possible  avoid  retouching.  Withal,  he  must  be  an 
artist,  realizing  the  exact  effect  of  what  he  is  doing.  The  style  in  two  crayons, 
now  quite  common,  was  used  by  Manlich  in  1805,  and  revived  subsequently  by 
Harding  in  his  Swiss  and  Italian  views.  For  this  the  stone  is  prepared  so  as  to 
print  a  uniform  tinted  ground,  on  which  the  dark  crayon  drawing  is  overlaid  and 
the  white  crayon  lines  and  lights  are  made  by  erasing  the  ground  tint,  and  scrap- 


ing away  the  grain  more  or  less  completely,  sometimes  even  hollowing  out  tlio 
brightest  lights. 

Several  processes  of  grading  shades  or  of  aqua-tinting  have  been  used,  of 
which  Senefelder's,  Jobard's,  Hancke's,  Knecht's  and  Lemercier's  are  the  most 
conspicuous.  None  are  quite  what  is  desirable,  nor  is  it  likely  that  any  process 
can  reach  the  main  difficulty,  which  is  that  printing  soon  impairs  or  varies  the 
most  delicate  shades.  Lemercier's  seems  the  simplest  possible.  When  the 
crayon  or  ink  drawing  is  ready,  scatter  crayon-dust  over  it  and  brush  it  with 
a  soft  brush,  so  as  to  give  the  shade  required ;  then  retouch  with  the  crayon  ink 
or  stamping  crayon,  until  the  desired  tone  is  reached.  He  has  used  this  process 
in  chromolithography,  so  as  to  save  some  of  the  color-printing  stones.  The 
principles  of  pen  and  brush  drawing  on  stone  are  so  like  those  of  crayon,  that  it 
will  suffice  to  mention  them  and  their  great  utility  and  convenience  for  many 
varieties  of  work.    They  require  special  practice,  study  and  manipulation. 

Chromolithography  is  the  name  given  by  Englemann  to  his  process  (an  ex- 
pansion of  Senefelder's  idea)  for  printing  from  several  successive  stones,  a  series 
of  colored  inks,  which,  by  their  combination  and  superposition,  realize  the  final 
design  in  the  colors  desired.  The  great  difficulty,  aside  from  the  procuring  of 
good  color  inks,  is  in  securing  an  accurate  register  or  superposition  in  the  suc- 
cessive printings,  so  as  to  preserve  the  correct  relations  of  the  various  colored 
lines  and  masses,  a  difficulty  increasing  rapidly  with  the  size  of  the  print.  The 
drawings  of  the  parts  for  each  color-stone  are  made  by  tracings,  and  the  effect 
of  their  relative  intensities,  superpositions,  and  contrasts  must  be  realized  by 
study,  practice,  and  special  comparisons.  The  difficulties  of  this  process  are  only 
great  when  the  lines  of  tint  are  complicated  and  delicate,  but  ordinary  tint 
printing  and  gilding  are  not  peculiarly  trying. 

Copper  or  steel  plate  transfers  are  made  by  first  taking  a  plate  impression  in 
transfer  ink,  on  a  paper  prepared  by  a  coating  with  a  soluble  layer  usually  com- 
posed of  starch,  gum  arabic  and  alum.  This  impression  is  laid  face  downwards 
on  a  clean  stone,  run  through  a  lithographic  press  and  wetted  on  the  back.  ■  The 
paper  is  then  stripped  off,  leaving  the  ink  adhering  to  the  stone.  The  starch 
layer  is  duly  washed  away,  when  the  transferred  ink  of  the  plate  impression 
alone  remains  on  the  face  of  the  stone,  which  is  washed  in  acidulated  and  guui 
water  as  usual,  and  is  then  in  condition  for  printing.  Transfers  from  engraved 
stone  to  stone,  from  autographic  writing  to  stone,  or  from  letter-press  to  stone, 
are  all  conducted  on  similar  principles.  Transfers  from  steel  and  copper  plates 
are  very  extensively  used  for  printing  maps,  atlases  and  checks. 

These  are  the  chief  lithographic  processes,  on  which  much  more  might  be 
said,  except  for  the  prohibition  of  space.  They  all  exist  among  us.  Thoy  are 
all  represented  at  the  Crystal  Palace.  We  must  not  venture  on  specifications  of 
merit  or  demerit  in  the  specimens  there  exhibited,  but  the  foregoing  general 
summary  of  lithographic  history  and  processes  may  provide  others  with  some- 
what better  means  of  appreciation  and  criticism.  We  thus  leave  the  subject, 
hoping  that  we  may  live  to  see  lithography  so  far  advanced  in  America,  that 
our  products  in  this  beautiful  art  can  safely  count  comparison  with  the  best 
specimens  from  Paris  and  Munich. 


uoirr  oabbiaob;  bt  b.  m'kinbtut,  nbw-yobk. 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED, 


FLAX  AND  HEMP  BREAKING  AND  CLEANING  MACHINERY. 

ONE  great  obstacle  which  has  always  been  encountered  in  the  preparation  and 
manufacture  of  hemp  and  flax,  has  been  the  want  of  suitable  and  effective 
machinery  for  cleaning  out,  or  separating  the  fibres  from  the  boon,  or  woody  por- 
tion of  the  stalk.  The  labor  of  gathering,  or  pulling  flax,  and  of  dressing  and 
breaking  both  flax  and  hemp  by  the  old  and  established  methods,  has  been  so 
great,  and  attended  with  so  much  waste  and  trouble,  as  to  discourage  alike  the 
farmer  and  the  manufacturer.  The  number  of  machines  and  devices  for  breaking 
and  preparing  flax,  which  have  been  brought  forward  in  Great  Britain  and  on  the 
Continent  since  the  commencement  of  the  present  century,  has  been  almost  in- 
numerable. One  can  hardly  open  a  number  of  the  old  and  once  famous  Nichol- 
son's Journal,  or  in  later  days,  the  London  Mechanics'  Magazine,  or  the  Repertory 
of  Inventions,  without  meeting  one  or  more  extended  descriptions  of  such  ma- 
chines. In  the  United  States,  on  the  contrary,  owing  to  the  neglect  of  the  flax 
and  hemp  manufacture,  comparatively  little  attention  has  been  given  to  the  sub- 
ject until  within  a  recent  period. 

We  import  linen  goods  each  year  to  the  value  of  ten  millions  of  dollars,  al- 
though we  have  more  productive  territory  unemployed  than  any  other  nation,  and 
produce  a  vast  amount  of  flax  for  the  seed  only.  Public  attention  is  now  directed 
to  this  great  branch  of  agricultural  and  manufacturing  industry,  and  as  a  conse- 
quence of  it,  a  large  number  of  new  flax-breaking  machines  have  beon  brought 
forward  from  almost  every  quarter  of  the  United  States. 

One  of  the  best  which  we  have  yet  examined,  is  now  on  exhibition  in  the 
Crystal  Palace,  and  is  faithfully  represented  in  its  general  aspect  by  the  annexed 
engraving.  It  is  the  invention  of  Lewis  S.  Chichester,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  and 
is  ingenious  and  simple  in  the  mechanical  combination  and  movement  of  its  parts, 
and  at  the  same  time,  thorough  and  rapid  in  its  action  on  the  material  to  be 
broken.    The  mechanical  arrangements  of  this  machine  are  as  follows  : — 

It  is  furnished  with  a  feed-table,  over  which  the  material  is  spread  out,  and  con- 
veyed between  a  pair  of  iron  calender  rollers,  which  flatten  and  split  the  stalks 
lengthwise,  as  they  are  carried  through  a  pair  of  iron  fluted  rollers  into  the  bite  of  a 
pair  of  large  breaking  cylinders.  These  form  the  body  of  the  machine,  from  which 
the  material  is  delivered  upon  a  receiving  apron,  in  a  mass  or  sheet  of  fibre.  The 
two  breaking  cylinders  are  each  formed  by  securing  near  the  opposite  ends  of  a 
Bhaft,  a  pair  of  iron  heads  or  flanges,  perforated  with  radial  slots,  into  which  are 


inserted  breaking  plates,  or  ribs  of  iron  (wrought  to  a  smooth  edge  on  top),  which 
are  free  to  move  in  and  out,  towards  or  from  the  centre  of  the  cylinder  heads,  as 
they  are  guided  by  springs  and  cams;  these  last  are  arranged  in  such  a  manner, 
that  the  ends  of  every  other  plate  or  rib  in  each  cylinder  project  through  the  radial 
slots  in  the  cylinder  heads,  and  rest  upon  stationary  cams,  placed  outside  of  the  heads, 
while  all  the  intermediate  plates  or  ribs  rest  upon  spiral  springs,  supported  by  cir- 
cular flanges,  keyed  on  the  shafts  just  inside  and  close  to  the  cylinder  heads.  These 
flanges  are  perforated  with  holes  forming  sockets  on  their  periphery,  to  receive 
and  support  the  spiral  springs,  and  to  admit  the  iron  pins  which  pass  through 
and  sustain  the  springs,  which  are  fastened,  or  locked  to  the  under  edge  of  the 
pressure  plates  or  ribs. 

As  the  cylinders  revolve  together  (one  being  placed  over  the  other),  the  cam 
plates,  or  ribs  of  the  lower  cylinder  are  guided  upwards,  and  meet  and  carry 
back  the  spring  or  pressure  plates  of  the  upper  cylinder;  at  the  same  time  the 
cam-plates  or  ribs  of  the  upper  cylinder,  are,  in  the  same  manner,  guided  down- 
wards, and  meet  and  carry  back  the  pressure  plates  of  the  lower  cylinder.  The 
ends  of  the  plates  are  left  thick  and  rounded  off,  so  as  to  form  circular  bearings 
for  the  opposing  plates  or  ribs  in  meeting  and  turning  out ;  the  edges  of  the  plates, 
on  the  contrary,  are  left  quite  sharp  and  very  smooth. 

The  cylinders  of  this  machine,  in  their  operation  and  action  upon  tho  material, 
were  designed  to  copy  the  movement  of  the  hands  in  breaking  out  a  stalk  of 
flax  between  the  thumb  and  fingers.  The  action  in  this  instance  is  that  of  slowly 
moving  the  hands  backwards  and  forwards  in  opposite  directions,  allowing  tho 
flax  at  the  same  time  to  slip  through  the  thumbs  and  fingers  under  pressure.  In 
this  way  the  stalk  is  most  perfectly  broken,  and  the  woody  portion  separated 
from  the  fibres  of  the  plant,  each  line  of  fibre  being  preserved  perfect  throughout 
its  entire  length,  and  delivered  ready  for  the  process  of  dressing  or  swingling. 

The  power  required  to  operate  this  machine  is  said  to  be  small  (one  horse- 
power, according  to  the  inventor,  being  sufficient).  The  movements  are  all  very 
slow,  but  continuous  in  their  action — the  working  parts  being  distributed  over  the 
surface  of  the  large  cylinders,  which  make  but  three  or  four  revolutions  per  minute. 
This  rate  of  speed  is  sufficient  to  break  a  ton  of  flax  straw  in  a  day.  The  slow 
motion  of  the  cylinders  obviates  an  objection  which  has  been  raised  against  some 
machines  for  cleaning  flax,  viz.,  that  they  do  their  work  with  rapid  motions  at  one 
point,  consuming  power,  and  subjecting  the  mill  to  danger  of  fire  from  friction 
and  heating  of  the  parts. 


In  addition  to  the  above  described  machine,  Mr.  Chichester  exhibits  a  new  hemp 
and  flax-dressing  machine  represented  in  the  engraving,  which  also  merits  attention. 
It  consists  of  two  conical  cylinders,  formed  on  parallel  shafts,  which  revolve  towards 
each  other,  and  are  driven  by  a  pair  of  gear-wheels  fastened  to  shafts  outside  of  the 
frame.  These  cylinders  are  each  formed  of  four  large,  conical,  spiral  blades  of  wood, 
secured  to  flanges  of  iron ;  these  are  keyed  to  opposite  ends  of  the  shafts,  and 


placed  over  one  another,  revolving  with  equal  motions  in  contrary  directions.  In 
this  way  the  blades  of  the  one  cone  are  always  opposite  to  the  spaces  between 
the  blades  of  the  other.  The  cones  are  covered  in  front  and  behind  with  a  wood 
or  sheet-iron  casing.  A  slot  is  cut  through  the  front  casing,  along  the  bite  of 
the  cones,  and  a  suitable  trough  formed  in  the  casing  opposite  (on  the  back  of  the 
machine),  with  an  opening  to  carry  oft  the  wood  and  other  impurities  dressed 

135 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


from  tho  mass.  These  casings  and  openings  are  so  arranged  as  to  control 
and  direct  the  currents  of  air  towards  and  out  of  the  opening  in  the  hack  of 
tho  machine,  at  the  small,  or  feed  end  of  the  cones  or  cylinders,  opposite  to  where 
the  operator  (holding  the  mass  to  be  dressed  in  his  hands)  first  introduces  it  to 
the  action  of  the  dressing  blades  through  tho  slot  in  the  front  casing.  These 
blades  draw  in  tho  mass,  striking  first  on  ono  side  and  then  on  the  other,  nearly 
at  right  angles  with  the  lino  of  the  fibre,  beating  out  the  wood  and  impurities, 
which  pass  off  through  the  opening  behind.  Tho  mass  is  then  moved  along  the 
slot  towards  the  other  end  of  the  blades  to  be  finished. 

The  conical  and  spiral  form  of  tho  blades  cause  a  gradual  change  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  blows  from  the  feed  end,  where  the  blows  fall  at  right  angles  to  the 
direction  of  the  mass,  towards  the  finishing  end  of  the  cones,  where  the  direction 
of  the  blows  is  nearly  lengthwise  with  the  line  of  the  fibre.  At  the  feed  end  the 
blades  are  left  very  blunt  and  rounded  off;  towards  the  finishing  end  they  change 
gradually  to  a  sharp  edge.  Tho  severity  of  the  blows  is  also  increased  as  the 
radius  of  action  increases  towards  the  larger  end  of  the  cones.  With  this  ar- 
rangement, also,  a  larger  space  is  left  at  the  feed  end  for  the  mass  when  first 
introduced  filled  with  slaves,  which  gradually  diminishes  as  the  mass  is  cleaned 
and  diminished  in  bulk.  Also  with  this  arrangement  at  the  finishing  end,  the 
heel  of  the  blades  is  thrown  out  nearly  on  the  circle  of  the  edge,  on  which  hackle 
teeth  or  brushes  can  be  placed  if  desired. 

This  dressing  machine  is  claimed  to  produce  but  little  tow,  and  to  be  entirely 
free  from  dust ;  its  capacity  equals  the  flax  and  hemp  break  of  the  same  inventor, 
dressing  out  the  straw  as  fast  as  it  is  broken. 

The  old  methods  of  swingling  flax  and  hemp  are  exceedingly  rude  and  imper- 
fect, and  at  the  same  time  wasteful  in  their  action.  In  Europe  the  plan  generally 
pursued  is  as  follows : — A  large  handful  of  the  material  is  grasped  in  the  left 
hand  and  held  over  the  edge  of  an  upright  board  of  a  suitable  height,  and  beaten 
with  a  large  wooden  sword  or  knife,  held  in  the  right  hand.  The  blows  being 
given  in  the  direction  of  the  line  of  the  fibre,  the  broken  wood  or  slaves  are 
driven  downward,  tearing  through  the  flax  or  hemp,  creating  a  large  amount  of 
tow,  and  over-dressing  the  outside  which  receives  the  blows  intended  to  act  upon 
the  interior  of  the  mass.  When  power  is  used  to  perform  this  work,  the  same 
principle  is  involved,  and  the  same  objections  present  themselves.  In  this  case  a 
number  of  dressing  blades  are  fastened  to  a  shaft,  and  set  in  motion  in  such  a 
way  as  to  revolve  near  a  slot  cut  in  an  upright  board.  Through  the  slot,  or  open- 
ing, the  mass  is  introduced,  and  spread  out  to  the  action  of  the  revolving  blades. 

In  addition  to  the  above  machines,  American  ingenuity  has  taken  a  new  direction, 
for  which,  we  think,  there  has  been  heretofore  no  pattern  or  example — wo  refer 
to  the  flax-pulling  machine.  This  invention,  which,  on  account  of  its  large  size, 
is  not  placed  upon  exhibition,  is  designed  to  pull  flax,  and  lay  it  on  the  ground,  as 
rapidly  as  grain  is  gathered  by  the  ordinary  reapers.  Its  construction  and  opera- 
tion is  as  follows :  A  horse  is  harnessed  into  the  machine,  moving  it  before  him, 
and  the  flax  is  pulled  and  laid  upon  the  ground  in  such  a  manner  as  always  to  give 
a  pathway,  and  leave  an  ample  track  for  the  wheels.  In  the  forward  movement 
of  the  machine,  the  flax  is  separated  and  collected  between  long  wedge-shaped 
projections,  forming  a  breast  or  front  near  the  ground.  The  flax  is  then  pulled  by 
jieans  of  vertical  rollers,  furnished  with  arms,  and  reaching  forward  underneath 
the  branches,  or  seed  tops  of  the  flax.  The  stalks  are  thus,  at  each  revolu- 
tion, bent  over  nearly  at  right  angles  with  their  growth,  the  lower  portions  being 
brought  into  the  bite  of  the  vertical  rollers,  ranged  just  back  of  the  wedge- 
shaped  projections,  and  delivered  on  the  ground  in  rows,  ready  to  be  gathered  into 
bundles.  The  rollers  are  driven  by  gear-wheels,  on  a  shaft  receiving  motion  from 
the  two  large  wheels,  to  which  the  whole  frame  is  adjusted.  The  flax-puller  has 
some  advantages  over  the  grain  reapers,  in  the  fact  that  it  contains  no  knives,  or 
cutting  edges  to  be  sharpened,  and  from  its  great  simplicity  is  not  liable  to  get  out 
of  order.    The  flax-puller  is  also  the  invention  of  Mr.  Chichester. 

If  all  the  above  machines  prove  as  efficient  and  valuable  as  is  expected  and 
claimed,  they  can  hardly  fail  to  exercise  an  important  influence  upon  the  flax  in- 
dustry of  this  country. 


ROYAL  MANUFACTORY  OF  THE  GOBELINS. 

"  Id  1'  art  d'Arachn6,  rival  de  la  pelnture 
"  Kcprodult  les  lieroa,  les  dieux  ct  la  nature." 

IN  the  reign  of  Francois  Premier,  that  gay  and  voluptuous  monarch,  whose  pro- 
tection and  encouragement  of  literature  obtained  for  him  amongst  his  contem- 
poraries the  title  of  Le  1'ere  des  Lettres  ;  and  whose  taste  for  the  luxurious  arts 
attracted  round  his  court  all  tho  eminent  artificers  not  only  of  France,  but  of  other 
countries,  there  came  to  Paris  two  humble  mechanics,  who  quitted  their  native 
town,  Rheims,  in  tho  hope  of  bettering  their  fortunes  in  the  French  capital.  At  a 
period  when  splendor  of  costume  was  carried  to  such  a  point  of  extravagance 
amongst  the  noblesse,  as  to  justify  the  remark  of  one  of  the  old  chroniclers  that, 
"they  carried  their  forests  and  domains  upon  their  backs,"  tho  trade  of  our  adven- 


turers (that  of  teinturier  or  dyer)  was  one  of  the  most  lucrative  of  the  occupations 
dependent  upon  the  caprices  of  fashion. 

Taking  a  small  house  in  the  Faubourg  Saint  Marcel,  on  the  banks  of  the  Bievre, 
Jean  and  Gilles  Gobelin  commenced  their  operations  on  a  limited  scale;  and  for 
some  years  they  encountered  all  the  difficulties  and  discouragements  incident 
to  a  new  career.  By  persevering  industry,  however,  and  the  application  of  some 
of  the  then  imperfectly  understood  principles  of  chemistry  to  their  urt,  they  at 
length  surmounted  the  obstacles  that  opposed  their  progress ;  and  the  beauty  and 
firmness  of  tho  colors  which  they  produced  attracted  a  large  clientele  to  their  es» 
tablishment.  From  this  period  Fortune,  who  when  she  is  in  a  generous  mood  is  no 
niggard  of  her  favors,  began  to  lavish  them  prodigally  upon  the  two  brothers. 
After  monopolizing  for  years  a  large  proportion  of  the  trade  of  Paris,  they  began 
to  invest  the  wealth  that  they  had  amassed  in  their  dyeing  business  in  the  purchase 
of  lands  and  houses.  The  brothers  erected  a  monument  to  their  own  impor- 
tance, one  of  those  quaint,  unsightly  edifices  which  are  still  occasionally  seen 
in  the  old  quarter  lying  to  the  north  of  Notre  Dame,  and  which  was  dignified  by 
the  ladauds  of  Paris  with  the  appropriate  name  of  "  Gobelin's  Folly."  This  ap- 
pellation was  exchanged  by  an  edict  of  the  Grande  Monarque  for  the  high  sound- 
ing title  of  the  Royal  Manufactory  of  the  Gobelins. 

The  family  of  the  founders  of  this  establishment  having  in  the  next  generation 
become  too  important  to  pursue  any  longer  their  calling,  the  building  was  sold  to 
the  Sieur  Lelieu,  a  counsellor  of  the  parliament,  who  let  it  to  the  brothers  Can- 
nayc.  To  tho  trade  of  dyers,  these  persons  added  the  manufacture  of  tapestry, 
an  article  now  coming  into  more  general  use.  They  were  succeeded  by  a  Dutchman, 
named  Gluck,  and  Jean  Liansen,  or  as  he  was  more  commonly  called,  Jans  of 
Bruges,  the  latter  of  whom  manufactured  tapestry  at  the  Gobelins  for  the  first 
time  on  the  haute  lisse,  or  high  loom. 

Before  we  proceed  to  describe  the  process  by  which  the  marvellous  results 
have  been  obtained  which  we  see  exemplified  in  the  French  Department  of  the 
Exhibition,  it  will  be  necessary  to  trace  the  progress  of  an  art,  which  even  in  semi- 
barbarous  ages  was  brought  to  no  mean  degree  of  excellence.  The  manufacture 
of  tapestry  is  said  to  have  been  first  introduced  into  Europe  by  the  Asiatics 
who  returned  in  the  train  of  the  Crusaders.  The  first  mention  made  of  it 
in  any  existing  document  is  that  contained  in  an  edict  of  the  Chatelet  in  Paris, 
in  1295,  which  authorizes  the  establishment  of  a  manufactory  of  the  tapestry  of 
the  high  loom,  and  gives  permission  to  a  Sieur  Renaut  to  employ  workmen 
and  take  apprentices.  During  the  first  century  that  followed  its  importation,  the 
art  made  but  little  progress  in  France,  for  we  find  that  Francis  the  First  and  Henry 
the  Second,  wishing  to  ornament  their  chateaux,  gave  orders  for  the  execution  id 
tapestry,  at  Brussels,  of  the  battles  and  triumphs  of  Scipio,  after  the  celebrated 
cartoons  of  Jules  Romain. 

Henry  the  Fourth  gave  a  fresh  impulse  to  the  art,  which  had  fallen  somewhat 
into  neglect,  by  an  edict  issued  in  January,1608,  conceding  certain  privileges  to  the 
establishment  formed  in  Paris  by  Messrs.  Marc  Comans  and  Francois  Laplanche. 
In  the  Garde-Meuble  of  the  crown  are  still  preserved  some  pieces  of  tapestry  exe- 
cuted at  this  establishment.  Louis  XIII.  continued  to  the  children  of  these  two 
manufacturers  the  privileges  granted  to  them  by  his  father.  Some  of  the  tableaux 
executed  in  this  reign  represent  the  life  and  miracles  of  Saint  Crepin,  and  Saint 
Crepinien,  and  bear  an  inscription  indicating  that  they  were  executed  to  the  order 
of  the  shoemakers  of  the  city  of  Paris,  and  were  destined  for  the  chapel  of  their 
corporation  in  the  church  of  Notre  Dame.  / 

The  community  of  marcliand-tapissiers  of  Paris,  which  dates  from  a  very  re- 
mote period,  had  originally  been  divided  into  two  distinct  bodies ;  one  of  them 
being  known  under  the  title  of  the  weavers  of  the  high  loom  and  fine-drawers, 
and  the  other  under  that  of  courte-pointiers,  or  weavers  of  counterpanes.  Tho 
close  resemblance  of  the  occupations  of  these  two  branches  of  the  trade  giving  rise 
to  frequent  differences  between  them,  their  union  was  ordered  by  the  parliament 
in  a  decree,  bearing  date  the  11th  of  November,  1621,  and  their  new  statutes  were 
approved  and  confirmed  by  tho  letters  patent  of  Louis  XIII.  in  July,  1636. 

Colbert  having  repaired  and  embellished  the  royal  residences,  and  more  espe- 
cially the  palaces  of  the  Louvre  and  the  Tuileries,  next  bethought  him  how  he 
could  furnish  and  decorate  them  in  a  stylo  corresponding  with  the  magnificence  of 
their  architecture.  With  this  view  he  called  together  all  the  most  eminent  artists 
and  workmen  who  were  scattered  throughout  the  kingdom,  and  by  splendid  offers  of 
pensions  and  privileges  induced  most  of  them  to  enter  into  his  plans.  He  contemplated 
uniting  these  different  branches  of  industry  in  one  vast  establishment,  and  placing  it 
under  the  direction  of  some  capable  officer  to  be  named  by  the  king.  In  order  to 
put  the  enterprise  on  a  permanent  footing,  and  to  secure  it  against  the  contin- 
gencies of  the  future,  he  induced  Louis  XIV.  to  purchase  the  old  hotel  of  the  dyers 
Gobelin,  in  which  a  manufactory  of  tapestry  was  still  installed.  In  November, 
1667,  the  king  accordingly  issued  an  edict  by  which  he  created  tho  Manufacture 
lioyale  des  Meubles  de  la  Couronne. 

The  very  terms  of  this  decree,  the  minute  details  into  which  it  entered,  the 
immunities  and  privileges  which  it  granted  to  the  workmen,  such  as  the  freedom 
of  the  city,  tho  rights  reserved  for  naturalization,  and  a  special  jurisdiction,  attest 
the  importance  which,  from  its  origin,  Louis  attached  to  the  manufactory  of  tho 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


Gobelins.  lie  confided  to  Le  Brun,  his  first  painter,  and  the  artist  who  had  deco- 
rated so  many  of  the  royal  palaces,  the  direction  of  the  new  establishment,  in 
which  were  soon  employed  several  men  who  have  left  a  reputation  either  in  the 
arts,  or  in  industrial  pursuits.  Of  the  number  thus  distinguished,  we  may  men- 
tion the  celebrated  engraver,  Sesbastian  Le  Clerc,  for  whom  Colbert  obtained  a 
grant  from  the  king  in  1C79,  of  apartments  at  the  Gobelins  with  a  pension  of  six 
hundred  crowns.  He  was  the  author  of  the  well-known  engraving  of  the  Mai  dcs 
Gobelins,  which  was  intended  as  a  design  for  a  permanent  May-pole  in  the  court- 
yard of  the  establishment,  or  rather  as  a  trophy  in  honor  of  its  royal  founder,  and 
of  Charles  Le  Brun,  the  director  of  the  works.  The  base  of  the  pillar  forms  a 
pedestal  of  about  twenty-one  feet  in  height.  Above  it  is  placed  an  oval  medallion 
surrounded  with  palms,  on  which  Virtue  is  seen  trampling  on  Ignorance  and  En- 
vy. Beneath  is  a  figure  of  History  inditing  its  records  on  the  back  of  Time.  We 
believe  that  this  design  was  never  carried  into  execution.  Le  Clerc,  who 
espoused  in  1G73  one  of  the  daughters  of  M.  Vandenkerchoven,  king's  dyer  to 
the  establishment,  died  at  the  Gobelins  in  1714,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven,  after 
having  lived  there  more  than  forty  years. 

In  order  to  complete  the  personnel  of  the  tapestry  work-rooms,  Colbert 
seduced  by  liberal  offers  several  artists  from  the  manufactory  at  Brussels,  who 
had  become  famous  for  their  copies  of  the  cartoons  of  Baphael  and  Jules  Bomain. 
Amongst  them  was  the  elder  Lefevre,  who  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  ateliers, 
with  Jans  of  Bruges,  who  had  been  employed  in  the  establishment  from  its  com- 
mencement. To  these  skilful  workmen  was  also  confided  the  charge  of  forming 
the  pupils. 

To  Le  Brun,  and  to  all  the  best  painters  of  the  day,  orders  were  given  by  Col- 
bert to  compose  pictures  to  serve  as  models  for  tapestry.  Thus  this  manufacture, 
which  had  hitherto  remained  in  the  state  of  imperfection  which  had  marked 
its  first  efforts,  became  at  this  epoch  an  art  in  which  all  the  highest  qualities  of 
genius  had  room  for  display,  and  its  productions  were  sought  for  through- 
out Europe,  with  as  much  eagerness  as  they  are  at  present.  In  1C94,  the 
prosperity  of  the  establishment  began  to  decline.  The  poverty,  to  which  the  war 
of  Succession  in  Spain  had  reduced  the  Treasury,  caused  the  king's  orders  to  be 
suspended,  and  in  the  following  year  the  number  of  employes  was  reduced  by  the 
dismissal  of  several  of  the  workmen  and  apprentices.  In  a  curious  little  work, 
now  lyiug  before  us,  entitled  "A  Journey  to  Paris  in  1698,"  by  Dr.  Martin  Lis- 
ter, the  writer  gives  a  sad  picture  of  the  condition  of  this  once  flourishing  estab- 
lishment.   He  says : — ■ 

"  The  formerly  so  famous  workhouse  of  the  Gobelins  is  fallen  miserably  into 
decay,  perhaps  because  the  king,  having  finished  all  his  palaces,  has  little  more  to 
do  for  them.  Here  I  saw  the  making  of  marble  tables,  inlaid  with  all  sorts  of  col- 
ored stones.  Also  the  ateliers  or  workhouses  of  two  of  the  famous  sculptures: 
Juby,  in  which  was  a  Laocoon  copied  in  white  marble  admirably  ;  also  that  other 
of  Quoisivoix,  in  which  was,  amongst  the  rare  pieces,  Castor  and  Pollux,  in  white 
marble,  exceedingly  beautiful  and  large." 

Under  the  reign  of  Louis  XV.  the  establishment  was  temporarily  closed  ;  after 
a  brief  suspension  of  the  works,  however,  it  was  again  opened  for  the  execution  of 
some  orders  from  the  king  for  the  decoration  of  the  royal  residences. 

Up  to  this  period,  the  tapestry  had  been  manufactured  by  contract,  or,  in 
other  words,  at  so  much  for  the  piece.  The  crown,  however,  lent  its  workshops 
and  the  looms,  and  advanced  to  the  contractors  the  warp,  the  silk,  and  the  wool. 
All  these  articles  were  noted  down  on  the  books  of  the  storekeeper,  and  when 
the  contractors  delivered  the  tapestry  he  deducted  the  value  of  the  materials. 
The  manufactory  of  the  Gobelins  was  not,  as  at  present,  exclusively  monopolized 
by  the  crown  ;  it  enjoyed  all  the  privileges  of  a  private  establishment,  and  carried 
on  a  trade  in  tapestry. 

In  1791,  the  establishment  was  placed  on  a  different  footing.  The  workmen 
were  paid  by  the  year,  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  manufacture  of  tapestry,  all 
the  other  branches  of  decorative  art  organized  by  Colbert  were  broken  up.  In 
1793  the  operations  of  the  establishment  were  again  temporarily  suspended  in 
consequence  of  the  enrolment  of  the  workmen  and  the  dismissal  of  the  pupils. 
This  crisis,  however,  lasted  but  a  short  time ;  after  a  brief  interval  the  Jury  of 
Arts  reorganized  the  manufacture. 

The  suppression  of  piece  work  was  attended  with  the  most  beneficial  results. 
By  leaving  to  the  artist  the  freer  disposal  of  his  time,  and  permitting  him 
to  apply  himself  rather  to  the  quality,  than  to  the  quantity  of  his  productions, 
a  marked  improvement  in  the  former  was  soon  perceptible.  These  who  had  talent 
now  took  pains  to  cultivate  it;  and  the  study  of  the  arts  of  design  and  painting 
contributed  greatly  to  their  progress.  In  short,  the  tapestry  weaver  became  an 
artist,  and  under  his  practised  fingers  wool  was  made  as  powerful  and  lifelike  a 
medium  of  expression  as  the  pencil. 

At  present,  the  artist  makes  the  warp  himself,  and  traces  and  alters  the  design 
according  to  his  judgment.  He  also  chooses  and  employs  his  own  colors,  a  part 
of  the  process  which  used  to  be  kept  quite  distinct.  The  superintendence  of  each 
piece  of  tapestry  is  confided  to  one  of  the  principal  workmen  ;  the  general  inspec- 
tion to  the  chef  oVateliers,  and  the  arrangement  of  the  artistical  details  to  an 
experienced  painter. 




The  wools  and  silks  are  kept  in  skeins  ready  for  use  in  the  general  store ;  each 
loom  has  however  its  own  compartment,  in  which  are  deposited  the  materials 
chosen  by  the  artist  for  the  execution  of  his  works. 

Tapestry  was  formerly  manufactured  on  both  the  high  and  the  low  looms; 
the  former  are  now  exclusively  employed.  The  distinction  in  these  names 
arises  not  from  any  difference  in  the  work,  but  from  the  position  of  the 
looms.  The  low  loom  is  placed  horizontally,  while  the  high  loom  stnnds 
erect.  The  liases  are  small  cords  attached  to  each  thread  of  the  warp  with  a  run- 
ning knot,  which  forms  a  sort  of  ring  or  mesh  ;  they  serve  to  keep  the  warp  open 
in  order  to  enable  the  workmen  to  pass  the  needle  through  it,  charged  with  the 
wool  or  silk. 

The  basse-lisse  or  low  loom  resembles  the  ordinary  loom  of  the  weaver.  The 
design  or  picture  which  is  to  be  copied  is  placed  above  the  warp,  where  it  is 
sustained  by  transverse  cords.  Two  instruments  suffice  to  work  this  loom — 
the  comb  and  the  needle.  The  artist  places  himself  before  the  loom,  sepa- 
rates with  his  finger  the  threads  of  the  warp,  in  order  to  sec  the  design,  and, 
taking  the  needle  charged  with  the  color  he  wants  to  use,  passes  it  between  the 
threads,  after  raising  or  lowering  them  by  means  of  the  treddle  upon  which  his 
feet  rest;  he  then  presses  down  the  silk  or  wool  he  has  placed  by  striking  it  with 
his  comb.  In  the  low  loom,  as  well  as  the  high,  the  artist  can  only  see  his 
tapestry  from  the  side  after  he  has  finished  each  operation,  unless  he  chooses  to 
shift  his  loom,  an  inconvenience  rarely  thought  of. 

The  haute-lisse  or  high  loom  is  composed  of  four  principal  parts ;  two  long 
madriers  and  a  couple  of  large  cylinders  of  wood  placed  transversely,  the 
one  above  the  madriers,  and  the  other  below  them.  When  about  a  metre  of 
the  tapestry  is  finished,  it  is  rolled  on  the  lower  cylinder,  whilst  the  upper  one 
furnishes  the  warps  for  the  succeeding  part.  The  warp  is  separated  into  two 
divisions  by  a  heddle  or  cross  stick;  by  this  means  half  the  threads  are  kept  at  an 
equal  distance  in  advance  of  the  other  half.  The  threads  of  the  latter,  owuig  to 
the  position  of  the  artist,  can  be  brought  forward  at  will  by  means  of  the  cords. 

When  the  loom  is  prepared  and  the  warp  stretched,  the  first  operation  of  the 
artist  is  to  trace  with  white  chalk  on  the  threads  of  the  latter  the  principal  fea- 
tures of  the  picture  which  he  has  to  copy.  He  then  reproduces  with  a  black 
pencil  on  transparent  paper  applied  to  the  picture,  the  outlines  which  appear 
through  it  in  white.  He  lays  this  tracing  on  the  front  surface  of  the  warp,  and 
secures  it  in  its  position  by  means  of  flat  wands.  He  then  reproduces  the  sketch 
on  the  warp  by  marking  with  a  black  crayon  the  part  of  the  thread  which  cor- 
responds with  the  dark  parts  of  the  tracing,  so  that  in  fact  the  design  on  the  warp 
is  only  the  reunion  of  the  black  outlines,  each  in  its  place.  This  process,  which  is 
effected  part  by  part,  in  order  that  it  may  not  get  effaced,  is  indispensable  to  the 
proper  execution  of  the  work. 

After  these  preliminary  opera! .ons,  the  artist  begins  to  copy  with  the  worsted 
and  silks  which  he  has  prepared,  the  model,  which  is  placed  behind  him  to  his 
right,  at  the  distance  of  about  half  a  metre.  In  this  position  he  has  only  to  turn 
his  head,  whilst  if  it  hung  before  him  the  picture  would  interfere  with  his 
light.  There  would  be  also  this  disadvantage  in  placing  himself  in  front  of  the 
tapestry,  that  he  would  be  obliged  to  cut  the  worsted  or  silk  as  soon  as  he  had 
done  with  it,  which  would  increase  his  labor  considerably,  and  diminish  the 
solidity  of  his  work.  By  working  on  the  wrong  side,  all  the  defects  of  the  weft 
and  the  warp  are  drawn  that  way,  and  a  smooth  and  delicate  surface  obtained 
on  the  face  of  the  tapestry. 

After  passing  his  left  hand  through  the  space  made  between  the  threads  of 
.the  warp  by  means  of  the  heddle  or  cross  stick,  and  making  it  wider  by  drawing 
towards  him  the  quantity  of  threads  that  is  necessary,  the  artist  passes  through 
them,  from  left  to  right,  the  worsted  with  which  he  is  working,  and  when 
he  has  stretched  it,  he  piles  it  with  the  point  of  the  needle,  then  draw- 
ing back  the  needle  in  a  contrary  direction,  he  passes  the  worsted  through  the 
space  left  in  their  turn  by  the  front  threads  of  the  warp  when  abandoned  to  them- 
selves, whilst  those  at  the  back  are  brought  forward.  The  backward  and  forward 
movement  is  called  woofing.  It  requires  two  of  these  woofs  to  form  the  mesh. 
One  of  these  weft  threads  is  generally  longer  than  the  other. 

It  is  owing  to  this  ingenious  combination  of  the  woofs  that  the  artist  is  enabled 
to  pass  with  facility  from  dark  to  light  colors,  and  to  shade  his  picture  with  such 
nicety  that  it  requires  the  most  practised  eye  to  discover  where  a  color  or  a  tint 
commences.  It  requires  long  practice,  however,  before  he  can  find  his  way 
through  such  a  multitude  of  reels  and  learn  to  design  correctly  with  worsted  on 
the  movable  threads.  He  has  to  imitate  with  this  material  the  soft  appearance 
of  velvet,  the  glossy  surface  of  silk,  the  firmness  and  hardness  of  metals,  and  the 
brilliancy  and  transparency  of  natural  tints. 

The  principal  tools  or  instruments  used  by  the  high  loom  weaver  are  the 
troche  or  needle,  and  the  comb.  The  former  is  generally  made  of  ash,  and  is  from 
eighteen  to  twenty  centimetres  in  length.  Its  head  is  round,  and  it  terminates  in 
a  blunt  point.    The  body  is  hollowed  out  in  order  to  contain  the  worsted  or  silk. 

The  comb  is  made  of  ivory.  It  is  made  somewhat  like  an  iron  wedge  for 
splitting  wood.  Its  length  is  from  fifteen  to  sixteen  centimetres,  its  width  at  the 
top  from  five  to  six,  and  at  the  bottom  from  four  to  five.    The  bevelled  end  is 

187 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


composed  of  from  seventeen  to  eighteen  teeth,  separated  from  eacli  other  hy  nar- 
row intervals,  through  which  the  threads  of  the  warp  pass.  Its  thickness  at  the 
baso  of  the  teetli  is  about  2  1-2  centimetres,  and  from  thence  it  is  bevelled  off  to 
a  tine  edge.  The  two  outside  teeth  are  thicker  than  those  of  the  interior,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  ordinary  comb. 

The  time  necessary  for  the  execution  of  a  piece  of  tapestry  is  of  course  pro- 
portionate to  the  dimensions  and  difficulties  of  the  picture.  It  is  impossible  to 
calculate  exactly  the  quantity  of  work  that  an  artist  can  execute;  it  is  estimated 
on  an  average  at  about  a  square  metre  in  the  year.  The  value  set  upon  a  metre 
of  this  tapestry  is  about  3,000  francs. 

There  are  six  atelien  of  tapestry  in  the  Gobelins,  and  the  number  of  work- 
men employed  is  about  120.  The  annual  expenditure  amounts  to  nearly  300,000 
francs,  and  is  charged  on  the  civil  list. 

To  this  establishment  was  annexed  in  1826,  the  celebrated  manufactory  of  foot- 
carpets,  called  la  Savonnerie,  which  was  created  a  royal  establishment  in  the 
beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  by  Marie  de  Medicis,  in  favor  of  Pierre 
Dupont,  who  invented  the  process  for  finishing  the  carpets,  and  who  was  placed 
at  its  head  with  the  title  of  director.  The  ateliers,  which  were  originally  estab- 
lished in  the  chateau  of  the  Louvre,  were  transferred  in  1615  to  a  soap  manufac- 
tory at  Chaillot,  from  whence  it  derives  its  name  of  la  Savonnerie.  In  this 
manufacture,  as  in  tapestry,  the  artists  themselves  prepare  all  that  js  necessary 
for  the  execution  of  the  work.  The  looms,  with  the  exception  that  they  are 
much  larger,  are  identical  with  the  high  loom  which  we  have  described.  The 
mounting  and  warping  are  also  the  same,  with  this  difference,  that  when  the 
warp  is  prepared,  care  is  taken  to  arrange  the  threads  so  that  one  thread  out  of 
each  row  of  ten,  shall  be  of  a  different  color  from  the  rest.  These  tenth  threads 
correspond  with  black  dots  made  on  the  picture,  placed  at  regular  distances  like 
the  colored  threads,  and  disposed  so  as  to  form  squares  which  have  the  width  of 
the  ten  threads.  This  serves  as  a  substitute  for  the  tracings  required  in  tapestry 
weaving.  The  model  thus  divided  in  bands  and  placed  before  the  workmen  above 
the  level  of  his  head,  is  attached  to  the  lisses,  so  that  the  dots  in  the  picture  cor- 
respond with  the  colored  threads  in  the  warp,  and  the  artist  sees  at  once  what  he 
has  to  execute. 

After  bringing  towards  him  with  his  left  hand  the  thread  on  which  he  is 
about  to  commence,  he  passes  the  worsted  with  his  right  behind  the  thread  of 
the  warp.  He  then  draws  from  its  side  the  succeeding  thread,  on  which  lie  makes 
a  running  knot  which  he  ties  firmly  ;  but  this  knot  on  the  thread  would  not  make 
the  pile,  if  before  securing  it  he  did  not  take  care  to  insert  the  rounded  extremity 
of  the  thread  cutter  (a  steel  instrument  hooked  at  one  end  and  terminating  in  a 
sharp  blade  at  the  other)  into  the  wool,  which  thus  forms  itself  into  rings  which 
he  cuts  in  drawing  them.  The  stitches  made  in  the  width  of  the  carpet  are  united 
by  a  hemp  thread  passing  from  one  end  of  the  web  to  the  other  through  the 
opening  left  by  the  heddle.  The  workman  then  recommences  his  range  of 
stitches,  and  passes  a  fresh  thread  through  the  opening  left  between  the  back 
threads  of  the  warp  as  they  are  drawn  forward  and  the  front  threads  when  let 
go.  By  this  means  the  stitches  are  as  it  were  set  in.  The  artist  next  combs  the 
euds  of  the  worsted  and  the  hemp  thread.  When  cut  by  the  instrument  above 
described,  the  rings  leave  ends  of  wool  of  an  unequal  length  and  consequently  of 
an  uneven  appearance.  These  ends  are  cut  with  scissors  with  hooked  blades, 
and  thus  is  formed  the  velvet  pile  on  the  carpet.  The  worsted  employed  in 
the  manufacture  of  carpets,  no  matter  what  may  be  its  prevailing  tint,  is  com- 
posed of  five,  six,  and  in  fruits,  of  nine  or  ten  different  shades,  combined  so  as 
to  imitate  exactly  the  model. 

A  special  atelier  is  set  apart  for  the  purpose  of  uniting  and  fine  drawing  the 
different  parts  of  large  pieces  of  tapestry  or  carpeting,  made  separately  on  the 
loom,  and  for  repairing  with  the  needle  parts  that  have  been  accidentally  torn  or 
eaten  by  moths. 

The  dyes  of  the  Gobelins  are  as  renowned  as  its  tapestry.  The  beauty  and 
delicate  gradation  of  its  colors  justify  this  reputation.  The  dyeing  department  of 
the  establishment  is  placed  under  the  direction  of  M.  Chevreul,  a  distinguished 
chemist,  find  a  member  of  the  Institute,  who  g?ves  public  lectures  in  the  theatre 
of  the  establishment  on  the  chemistry  of  dyeing.  An  erroneous  notion  pre- 
vails, that  the  beauty  of  the  colors  produced  at  the  Gobelins  is  principally 
owing  to  the  peculiar  properties  of  the  water  of  the  Bievre.  So  far  is  this  from 
being  the  fact  that  it  is  totally  unfitted  for  the  purpose,  and  the  water  of  the 
Seine  is  that  which  is  generally  used.  A  rumor  equally  unfounded  has  obtained 
currency  regarding  the  process  by  which  the  beautiful  scarlet  for  which  this 
establishment  has  been  so  long  noted,  is  produced.  Ignorance  alone  could  have 
invented  and  credited  the  fable  that  a  certain  number  of  the  employis  are  fed  on 
roast  meats  and  deluged  with  claret,  in  order  to  contribute  to  the  virtues  of  the 
dye.  The  truth  is,  that  the  superiority  of  its  colors  is  principally  due  to  the  skill 
and  experience  of  the  persons  employed  in  this  branch  of  the  establishment. 

There  is  a  school  of  design  in  the  building  conducted  by  competent  persons,  in 
which  the  pupils  draw  from  the  antique  and  from  living  models.  Several  dis- 
tinguished artists  have  issued  from  it,  and  amongst  others  we  may  mention  M. 
Deyrolle,  junior,  to  whom  was  confided  the  execution  of  the  oil  paintings  intended 


to  serve  as  models  for  the  carpets  designed  by  M.  de  Saint  Ange,  architect  of  the 
crown,  under  Louis  Philippe. 

The  productions  of  the  manufactory  of  the  Gobelins,  together  with  those  of 
Beauvais  and  Sevres,  are  exhibited  every  two  years  at  the  Louvre.  The  establish- 
ment itself,  however,  is  open  to  the  public  every  Wednesday  and  Saturday. 

Amongst  the  most  remarkable  subjects  which  have  been  executed  in  this 
establishment,  we  may  cite  "  The  Battles  of  Alexander,"  "  The  Four  Seasons," 
"The  Four  Elements,"  "The  Royal  Palaces,"  and  a  series  of  the  principal 
events  of  the  life  of  Louis  XIV.,  from  the  time  of  his  marriage  to  the  conquest 
of  Franche-Comte,  after  the  designs  of  Le  Bran.  These  admirable  works 
are  surpassed  by  the  "  Massacre  of  the  Mamelukes,"  after  the  celebrated  picture 
of  Horace  Vernet.  This  superb  tableau  was  commenced  under  the  direc- 
torship of  M.  Lavocat,  and  was  completed  in  about  six  years  (we  believe  in 
1844).  M.  Rancon,  an  artist  of  great  merit,  executed  all  the  most  difficult  parts 
of  it,  and  was  assisted  in  the  remainder  by  MM.  Bloquerre,  Manigant,  Hnpe  and 
Martin.  It  is  kept  in  the  exhibition  room  of  the  Gobelins  as  one  of  the  greatest 
marvels  of  this  beautiful  art,  in  order  that  it  may  serve  as  an  incentive  to  the 
ambition  of  the  talented  men  who  sustain  so  worthily  the  reputation  of  the 
establishment.  It  was  forwarded  to  London  in  time  for  the  opening  of  the 
Great  Exhibition,  and  attracted  universal  admiration  from  the  lifelike  fidelity 
with  which  all  the  details  of  this  thrilling  scene  are  rendered. 

Although  the  specimens  that  have  been  contributed  to  our  own  exhibition 
cannot  be  compared,  either  in  size  or  in  historical  interest,  with  that  which 
we  have  just  noticed,  they  are  nevertheless  charming  productions,  their 
subjects  being  taken  from  the  works  of  some  of  the  best  painters  of  the  modern 
French  school,  such  as  Bouchet,  Lancret,  and  Desporte,  and  the  tableaux  them- 
selves executed  by  some  of  the  most  skilful  artists  of  the  Gobelins,  and  Beauvais. 
In  the  "  Subject  taken  from  the  Chase  and  Still  Life"  for  instance,  nothing  can  excel 
the  softness,  the  delicacy,  and  the  brilliancy  with  which  all  the  minute  traits  of 
both  animal  and  vegetable  life  are  rendered  in  these  colored  wools,  in  some 
instances,  even  surpassing  the  most  elaborate  efforts  of  the  pencil.  To  our 
minds  this  is  by  far  the  best  picture  in  the  collection.  The  selection  of  the  sub- 
ject was  a  happy  one,  from  the  strong  contrasts  which  it  afforded,  and  the  oppor- 
tunity it  thereby  gave  the  artist  of  employing  bold  and  effective  coloring.  In  ta- 
pestry pictures,  where  the  surface  is  not  protected  by  varnish,  as  in  the  case  of  oil- 
paintings,  and  where  the  natural  tendency  to  fade  or  collect  dust  must  more  or  less 
affect  the  tints  in  the  progress  of  time,  it  seems  to  us  that  subjects,  in  which  the  tones 
are  subdued  to  that  point  which  would  be  considered  a  beauty  in  oils,  are  not  ex- 
actly those  which  are  suited  to  the  peculiarity  of  the  material  by  which  they  are 
to  be  rendered.  We  may  cite,  as  an  illustration  of  this,  the  tableau  entitled 
"The  Wolf  and  the  Lamb,"  which  was  executed  in  1842  by  M.  Thiers  after 
a  picture  by  Desporte.  Here,  although  the  subject  is  unquestionably  one  of  great 
merit,  and  has  been  done  full  justice  to  in  the  copy,  the  general  effect  is  somewhat 
sombre.  The  truth  is,  that  as  transparency  cannot  be  imparted  to  them 
by  glazing  and  varnish,  as  in  the  case  of  oil-paintings,  the  predominance  of  these 
neutral  tones  ought  to  be  avoided  as  much  as  possible  in  the  choice  of  subjects  for 
tapestry.  In  the  beautiful  tableau  after  Lancret,  entitled  "  Autumn,"  we  find  as  much 
to  admire  in  the  accessories,  which  have  been  grouped  beneath  it,  as  in  the  picture 
itself.  The  fruit  and  flowers  are  exquisitely  rendered,  and  in  fact  the  whole  com- 
position may  be  reckoned  as  one  of  the  happiest  efforts  of  that  charming  painter. 

In  "  The  Skaters,"  by  Chevalier,  nothing  can  exceed  the  grace,  elegance, 
and  spirituality  of  this  beautiful  little  composition.  The  female  figure  is  a  perfect 
study  in  itself,  and  the  general  grouping  is  quaint  and  effective.  The  best  tableau, 
however,  from  this  manufactory,  both  as  regards  the  spirited  treatment  of  the 
incident  that  gives  it  its  title,  and  the  quiet  beauty  of  the  landscape  which  forms 
its  background,  is  "The  Combat  of  the  Two  Goats."  "The  Reading  Les- 
son," from  Bouchet,  is  also  a  chef  d'muvre  in  its  way. 

We  subjoin  a  list  of  the  tableaux,  both  from  Beauvais  and  the  Gobelins,  that 
compose  this  little  collection,  together  with  the  names  of  the  artists,  and  the  prices 
at  which  they  are  valued. 

GOBELINS. 

"Autumn,"  after  Lancret;  executed  in  1840  by  M.  Maloisel,    .       14,000  francs. 

"  The  Wolf  and  the  Lamb,"  after  Desporte;  executed  in  1842  by 
M.Thiers;  and  "The  Hound  and  Her  Companion,"  also  after 
Desporte;  executed  in  1842  by  M.  Prevotet,       .       .       .        8,500  " 

"  Subject  taken  from  the  Chase  and  Still  Life,"  after  Desporte ;  ex- 
ecuted by  M.  Hypolite  Lucas,   20,000  " 

Two  seats  and  backs  of  chairs  in  carpet  work  ;  executed  by  MM. 

Renard  and  Gouthier,  from  designs  by  M.  Godefroy,    .       .        2,500  " 

BAUVAIS. 

"  Combat  of  the  Two  Goats,"  after  Audrey,  by  Chevalier,       .  4,000  " 

"  The  Skaters,"  after  Lancret,  by  Chevalier,     ....  6,000  " 

Landscape,  after  Desgoffes,  by  Augusto  Melisso,       .       .       .  8,000  " 

Three  leaves  for  a  screen,  after  Audrey,  by  Chevalier,      .       .  20,000  " 

"  The  Reading  Lesson,"  after  Bouchet,  by  Chevalier,       .       .  2,500  " 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


butions  is  made  by  Messrs.  Mexton  <fe  Co.,  Stoke-upon-Trent,  Staffordshire,  England 
lo  those  who  are  acquainted  with  this  branch  of  art-manufacture,  it  would  be 


uperfluous  tc  speak  of  the  various  excellence  and  beauty  which  belong  to  the  prod 


tions  of  the  Messrs.  Minton,  but  as  the  Record  may  have  other  readers,  we  mention 
that  this  firm  are  in  the  very  first  rank  of  private  or  commercial  manufacturers,  and 


yield  only  to  the  French  national  establishment  at  Sevres,  whose  operation: 


iucted  without  regard  to  the  cost  or  sale  of  its  productions.    A  Council  Medal,  the 


highest  honor  of  the  London  Exhibition,  was  awarded  to  Messrs.  Minton  in  1851 

139 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS 


From  their  contributions  to  our  own  Crystal  Palaoe  we 
have  selected  und  engraved  the  subjects  which  fill  this  and 


in  Parian,  They  belong  to  a  dessert  service.  They  are 
succeeded  by  the  Vintagers,  a  group  in  Parian,  and  a 


The  illustration  on  the  left  represents  a  Flemish  Juo. 


the  two  adjoining  pages.  The  first  is  a  statuette  in 
Parian,  modelled  after  the  design  of  Carrier,  and  repre- 


sents  TnKSEUs  reining  in  his  horse.  The  statuette  ad- 
joining is  an  Amazon  on  horseback,  and  was  designed  by 


Veuchere.  It  is  followed  by  a  pair  of  Fruit  Dishes  of 
porcelain  with  colored  and  gilt  decorations  and  figures 


large  Flower  Pot  and  stand,  a  reproduction  of  the  fa- 
mous Majolica  ware.  The  design  of  this  piece,  and  the 
bright  and  gay  colors  in  which  it  is  executed,  are  very 
attractive  and  beautiful. 

The  three  statuettes  which  introduce  this  page,  are 
all  modelled  after  the  desisns  of  Carrier,  and  are  deserv- 


It  is  in  white  Parian,  and  bears  figures  in  high  relief. 


This  misuse  of  material  and  style  of  decoration  we  can- 


ing of  much  praise.  The  first  is  named  Psyche;  the  mid- 
dlo  one  represents  Prometheus,  and  the  third  is  Pandora 
in  the  act  of  opening  the  fatal  box. 

The  Sugar  Dish,  and  the  piece  opposite,  form  part  of 
a  very  elegant  dessert  service,  similnr  to  that  selected  by 
the  Queen  in  1851  ns  a  royal  present 
140 


not  regard  with  favor.    The  Diana  Juo  on  the  other 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


side,  is  liable  to  the  same  objections,  though  to 
the  last,  in  a  less  degree. 

Our  third  page  commences  with   the  two 


Parian  figures  in  the  style  of  Louis  the  Fifteenth. 
Their  costumes  are  elegantly  ornamented  with 
gold,  and  the  pedestals  are  set  with  excellent 
imitations  of  the  turquoise. 


The  large  Centre  Piece  belongs  to  the  dessert 
service  already  mentioned.    The  basket  and  the 


pedestal  are  decorated  with  good  taste,  but  our  attention  is  chiefly 


far  costlier  centre  pieces  in  silvor,  of  which  W* 
have  engraved  many  examples. 


attracted  to  the  graceful  Parian  figures  which  support  the  piece,  and 
are  every  way  beautiful  and  appropriate.    They  are  allegorical,  and 


We  have  placed  beneath  two  companion  stu- 
tuettes,  modelled  after  Carrier.  They  represent  an 
[nisi!  Peasant  Boy  and  Girl. 


We  conclude  these  illustrations  with  thrrc 
Porcelain  Tiles  of  different  patterns,  which  arc 
largely  manufactured  by  Messrs.  Minton  for  ar- 
represent  Love,  Peace,  and  Abundance.  To  our  way  of  thinking,  this  1  chitectural  decorations,  a  use  for  which  they  are 
seems  a  more  elegant  table  ornament  than  the  more  ambitious  and    peculiarly  suitable. 

141 


THE    INDUKTKY    OF    A  I.  I.  NATIONS, 


We  engrave  upon  this  page  a  specimen  of  the  Ronnkt  Matkhui.s  eontriliuted  by 
the  inventor  and  manufacturer,  George  Long,  I.oudwater,  Bucks,  England.  This 


The  luxurious  Arm  Chair,  of  which  we  give  an  illustration,  i9  exhibited  by  Matuew 
W.  King  it  Son  manufacturers,  Broadway,  New- York.    It  is  upholstered  with  figured 


specimen  is  a  woven  openwork  of  horsehair  and  straw,  and  is  equally  light  and     satin,  and  very  conveniently  revolves  upon  a  central  axis. 

beautiful.  I        The  beautiful  and  rich  carpet,  one-half  of  which  we  have  engraved,  may  be  found 


•4<iHiHiiijii(iHfin(iffliiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiii^ 


in  the  French  Department.    It  is  contributed  by  M.  Sallandrouze  db  Lamornaix  from  |  his  establishment,  formerly  the  Royal  Manufactory  of  Carpets  at  Aubusson. 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


One  of  the  best  specimens  of  carving  in  ivory  contained  in  the  Kxhibition,  is  that  executed  by  Fra  Carlo 


Antonio,  of  Genoa,  which  we  here  engrave.    The  subject  is  the  Descent  from  tue  Cross,  and  the  artist  exhibit! 


Lis  skill  in  the  varied  expression  of  grief  in  those  who  have  come  to  perform  the  last  sad  offices  to  the  dead. 


The  two  following  engravings  represent  the  top  and 
front  of  a  Cabinet,  which  is  exhibited  by  the  heirs  of 
J.  G.  Lanue,  Oberamergau,  Wurtemberg.  This  small 
cabinet  is  quite  covered  with  laborious  carving,  which  is 


generally  executed  with  spirit  and  fidelity.  The  top 
has  in  the  centre  a  view  of  the  castle  of  Hohenschwan- 
gau,  and  the  front  is  similarly  decorated  with  a  charac- 
teristic scene  of  German  life. 


i 


1 7 


The  remaining  wood  carvings  on  this  page  are  also 
contributed  bv  the  heirs  of  Lange. 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS 


Tho  silver  Centri  I'ikce  represents  Arabs  in  the  desert  tracking  travellers  by 


The  Bracket,  elaborately  and  beautifully  sculptured  in  wood,  ia  exhibited  by 
G.  Gallikna,  Turin,  Sardinia.    It  represents  a  wolf  hunt 


their  foot-marks  in  the  sand.  The  design  of  this  characteristic  piece  was  made  by 
Edmund  Cotteril,  and  it  is  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Garrard. 


1M 


*HltNi.ir-jacEL»N-ANMt.  ■5C- 


A  statuette  in  marble  is  contributed  by  Emilio  Santarelm,  of  Florence.  Tho 
sculptor  has  aimed  to  present  Cupid  in  a  mischievous  mood. 

Messrs.  Rochfort  <fc  Skarren,  of  New-York,  exhibit  a  Panel  carved  in  rosewood. 


H.jEmrr.Ki  ny 


The  roses  which  form  the  ornament  of  this  panel,  are  sculptured  with  much  skill. 
The  style  of  decoration  which  produces  only  fac  similes  of  nature  is  not,  howeTer, 
that  which  displays  the  highest  art. 


THE    NEW -YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


THE  FRESNEL  LENS, 

OB 

DIA-CATOPTRIC  ILLUMINATING  APPARATUS  FOR  LIGHT-HOUSES. 

N  connection  with  the  beautiful  specimen  of  art  and 
•workmanship  catalogued  under  this  title,  it  seems  ap- 
'W^^k?  iP^  jJBI'^'N  ProPr'atei  an(l  maybe  interesting  to  the  student  of 
;/H  >  jjle  rcsu]ts  of  the  Exhibition  to  have  here  some 
condensed  memoranda  upon  Light-Houses  ;  the  modes 
of  illuminating  them ;  and  the  development  which 
these  essential  aids  to  navigation  have  received  in 
modern  times.  For  in  ancient  times,  commerce, 
chiefly  carried  on  by  land,  stood  less  in  need  of 
them,  and  the  mariner  with  his  unfrequent  freights 
clung  closely  to  the  shore.  The  light-houses  there- 
fore, of  which  industrious  antiquarians  believe  they  find  a 
trace,  could  hardly  have  been  more  than  beacon  marks  to 
assure  the  voyage  by  day,  and  by  their  very  size,  to  loom 
large  and  dark  by  night;  and  even  if  lighted  at  all,  they 
could  not  have  surpassed  the  rank,  if  they  at  all  equalled  the 
efficiency,  of  our  harbor  lights  of  the  present  day.  Such, 
for  instance,  was  the  Colossus  of  Rhodes,  familiar  to  our  school-days 
as  a  marvel ;  such  the  tower  at  Alexandria,  whose  locality  (the 
island  of  Phra,  or  Pharaoh  or  Pharos),  has  been  perpetuated  to 
this  day  in  the  classic  epithet  for  structures  of  more  undoubted  purpose  and  effect ; 
that  of  Corunna,  consecrated  in  Milesian  tradition ;  and  that  of  Capio,  on  or  near  the 
Andalusian  Tartessus.  Other  structures  of  smaller  size  appear  to  have  been  placed 
at  several  prominent  points  on  the  coasts  of  Gaul  and  Britain,  probably  to  guide  the 
transport  of  Roman  invaders  and  colonists  ;  and  Flamborough  Head  on  the  East 
Coast  of  England,  seems  to  preserve  in  its  name  an  allusion  to  a  luminous  beacon  that 
stood  upon  it.  But  it  was  not  until  after  the  use  of  the  compass  and  the  improve- 
ments (or  rather  discoveries)  in  Nautical  Astronomy  of  the  15th  and  16th  centuries, 
that  lights  in  aid  of  navigation  came  to  be  systematically  demanded,  or  formed 
part  of  the  policy  of  even  the  most  commercial  people. 

When  this  occurred,  and  as  the  towers,  to  answer  their  purpose  best,  had 
generally  to  be  placed  on  points  of  land,  salient  or  otherwise  exposed  to  the  winds 
and  fury  of  the  sea,  cases  often  would  arise  where  difficulties  had  to  be  encounter- 
ed and  outlay  made,  either  of  money  or  of  skill  on  the  part  of  the  engineer,  or  of 
both.  Some  such  cases,  from  the  bold  ingenuity  exhibited  or  the  happy  nar- 
rative of  the  steps  of  the  undertaking,  have  come  to  mark  classical  epochs  in  the 
history  of  Light-Houses. 

Among  these  may  be  mentioned  (first  in  point  of  date,  and  as  having  been 
kept  up  sedulously  ever  since,  abreast  or  ahead  of  all  its  class,  so  that  a  detailed 
account  of  it  would  be  also  a  tolerable  index  of  the  improvements  in  the  archi- 
tecture and  illumination  of  lights),  the  Tower  of  Cordouan,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Gironde  on  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  Begun  in  1584,  the  troubles  and  tumults 
of  the  League  of  France,  and  the  often  anxious  counsels  of  Henry  IV.,  pre- 
vented its  completion  until  the  death  of  that  monarch  in  1610.  More  than  fifty 
years  afterwards,  in  the  magnificent  period  of  Louis  XIV.,  additions  were  made 
to  it,  and  the  structure  partly  rebuilt.  Its  cost  would  be  equivalent  to  nearly  or 
quite  a  half  a  million  of  our  money.    Its  historian  is  Belidor. 

Great  Britain  has  always  contributed  most  largely  to  these  provisions  of  com- 
merce ;  and  the  Eddystone  Light,  remarkable  for  its  vicissitudes ;  that  of  the  Bell 
Rock,  whose  seat  is  hardly  ever  dry  even  for  a  few  hours ;  and  that  of  Skerry  vore, 
the  latest  triumph  of  the  art,  are  places  of  pilgrimage  for  engineers  who  wish  to 
note  how  apparent  impossibilities  may  be  overcome. 

The  first  of  these,  built  on  a  rock  in  the  English  Channel,  opposite  the 
mouth  of  Plymouth  Sound,  and  some  ten  miles  from  land,  goes  back  originally  as 
far  as  1698,  when  a  light  was  shown  from  a  wooden  tower.  But  the  water  which 
rages  there  at  times,  and  can  submerge  an  object  sixty  feet  in  height,  soon  render- 
ed an  enlargement  indispensable,  and,  after  that  was  made,  a  fresh  repair.  It  was 
upon  a  last  occasion  of  this  sort,  deep  in  November,  1703,  that  the  Engineer  Win- 
stanley,  and  all  hands  employed,  and  all  visible  preceding  prints  of  their  labor, 
were  swept  away  at  once.  Five  years  afterwards  it  was  replaced,  still  of  wood, 
and  so  continued  until  1755,  when  a  new  agent,  fire,  destroyed  afresh  what  the 
wind  and  waves  for  nearly  half  a  century  had  failed  to  move.  Immediately 
after,  and  now  almost  a  hundred  years  ago,  the  real  Eddystone  of  mason  work, 
artificially  and  curiously  designed  and  laid,  and  which  reciprocally  immortalizes, 
and  is  immortalized  by  the  name  of  Smeaton,  began  to  be  built,  and  was  shortly 
after  finished.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  art  has  now  triumphed  over  nature,  and  that 
care  will  exclude  accident,  so  that  in  a  distant  future  the  inquirer  into  the  history 
of  Light-Houses,  more  fortunate  than  ourselves,  may  have  an  existing  and  un- 
doubted specimen  of  the  art  as  it  was  with  us. 

The  Bell  Rock,  a  lonely  and  never  long  uncovered  reef,  some  twelve  or  fifteen 
miles  from  land,  opposite  the  firth  of  Tay  on  the  East  coast  of  Scotland,  testifies 
in  its  name  to  the  honor  of  the  monks  of  Aberborthwick,  whose  pious  charity 


devised  a  floating  bell  tolled  by  the  moving  waves,  and  rung  with  more  appalling 
energy  the  higher  rose  the  storm,  to  warn  the  mariner  of  what  he  was  approach- 
ing. But  with  the  decay  of  the  Abbey  went  also  the  bell.  Twice  afterwards 
private  beneficence  provided  there  a  wooden  beacon  that  speedily  followed  the 
bell;  but  about  the  beginning  of  this  century  (in  1811)  after  nearly  four  years 
dangerous  labor,  Robert  Stevenson  (of  a  family  whose  members  have  to  be  de- 
signated by  their  Christian  names,  since  it  has  furnished  so  many  names  of 
eminence),  under  the  authority  of  the  Commissioners  of  Northern  Lights,  com- 
pleted the  present  stone  structure.  In  this  the  old  tradition  is  revivified ;  and 
the  song  of  the  Bell,  now  moved  by  the  revolving  machinery  of  the'lamps,  is  still 
heard, — a  warning  adjunct  in  foggy  weather. 

Skerry  vore,  the  last  that  need  be  mentioned,  is  on  a  reef  of  rocks  lying  on  the 
western  coast  of  Scotland,  and  among  the  Isles  celebrated  in  one  of  Sir  "Walter 
Scott's  metrical  romances,  the  materials  for  which,  in  fact,  he  gathered  during  a 
reconnaissance  in  1814,  when  he  accompanied  the  Northern  Light-House  Board 
and  their  Engineer,  Alan  Stevenson,  for  the  object,  among  others,  of  examining 
this  very  site.  So  difficult,  however,  appeared  the  work,  and  so  faint  the  chance, 
that  twenty  years  had  passed  by  before  the  question  of  placing  a  light  there  was 
seriously  taken  into  consideration.  Then,  in  1834  a  minute  survey  was  begun,  and 
in  1838,  the  work  of  building  was  commenced,  and  the  tower  lit  up  in  1844. 
This  Light-House  is  remarkable  not  only  for  its  dangerous  position,  and  for  its  size, 
in  which  it  more  than  doubles  that  on  the  Bell  Rock,  and  nearly  quintuples  the 
one  on  the  Eddystone,  but  also  for  the  extreme  theoretical  and  practical  skill  in 
both  its  architectural  and  optical  relations  developed  there  by  the  distinguished 
Engineer,  Alan  Stevenson,  who  may  justly  be  regarded  as  among  the  very  first 
authorities,  living  or  dead,  on  the  subject  of  Light-Houses. 

In  building  a  Light-House,  these  two  relations,  optical  and  architectural,  or 
its  brilliancy  and  its  permanence,  are  the  chief  things  to  be  considered.  In  re- 
spect to  the  latter,  both  theory  and  practice  seem  to  agree  in  showing  that  it  is  to 
be  obtained  by  the  weight  or  inertia  of  the  insisting  building,  with  an  external 
shape,  of  course,  the  best  calculated  for  presenting  the  least  resistance  to  the 
waves,  and  for  allowing  them  the  soonest  to  expend  themselves,  rather  than 
by  any  complicated  mechanical  framing,  which,  in  some  other  works,  is  the  most 
approved  mode  of  obtaining  the  required  strength  of  resistance.  Hence  stone, 
which  is  twice  and  a  half  as  heavy  as  wTater,  has  been  found  of  far  more  success- 
ful application  than  wood,  which  last  material,  indeed,  has  become  only  tradi- 
tional in  dangerously  exposed  situations.  Lately,  a  substitute  has  been  pro- 
posed of  broken  stone  coi.creted  with  crude  iron,  which  claims  also  this  advan- 
tage, of  being  moulded  in  any  form,  and  especially  with  the  Smeaton  dove-tails 
and  joggles,  that  render  the  various  parts  of  the  building  incapable  of  being 
moved  by  any  force  short  of  what  transcends  the  tensile  strength  or  cohesion  of 
the  material.  Wrought  iron  has  also  been  proposed  and  used;  but  in  general 
with  a  sacrifice  of  the  idea  of  inertia  to  that  of  a  mechanical  fastening  to  the 
rock  foundation  of  a  tripod  or  multiple-legged  frame,  bearing  the  necessary  lantern 
and  chambers  above  and  beyond  the  reach  of  the  sea.  Cast  iron,  whose  weight  is 
nearly  triple  that  of  stone,  and  seven  times  that  of  water,  would,  in  cases  where 
the  risk  is  great,  and  the  expense  at  all  considerable,  be  most  likely  the  best 
resort  both  for  economy  and  permanence.  The  use  of  this  material  in  plates 
however,  as  has  been  proposed,  does  not  appear  to  be  the  most  eligible;  it  should 
rather  be  cast  in  solid  rings,  or  in  segments  to  be  bolted  together,  and  thus  form 
the  entire  periphery  of  the  tower. 

Suggestions  of  this  kind,  however,  although  they  relate  to  what  must  be 
admitted  as  the  most  important  point  in  Light-Houses,  namely  the  maintenance 
of  the  building,  and  so  its  very  existence  as  a  Light,  do  not  constitute  the  most 
attractive  speciality  of  the  subject.  This  is  rather  the  optical  part,  and  what 
concerns  the  mode  of  illumination  and  the  light  itself. 

Down  to  nearly  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  the  only  illumination 
known,  was  from  the  combustion  of  wood  or  coal  in  suitable  grates  or  chauffers. 
Next  to  the  glare  of  this  open  fire,  which  was  as  expensive  and  troublesome  as  it 
was  variable  and  inefficient,  came  the  light  from  tallow  candles.  For  forty 
years  after  so  much  thought  and  labor  had  been  expended  in  erecting  the  Eddy- 
stone, the  light  it  gave  was  from  no  other  source  than  these.  Other  lights  else- 
where,  it  is  true,  used  the  flame  of  an  oil  lamp  at  an  earlier  date,  but  the  wicks  of 
the  lamps  were  all  solid,  and  the  combustion  of  the  oil,  or  rather  of  the  inflamma- 
ble gas  from  it,  very  imperfect,  as  is  seen  in  the  quantity  of  smoke  evolved.  And 
even  when  an  improvement  was  made  by  flattening  and  thinning  the  wick,  the 
supply  of  atmospheric  air  essential  to  combustion,  was  only  external,  and  a  con- 
siderable quantity  of  carbonaceous  matter  on  the  inside  necessarily  went  off 
without  contact  of  air,  and  therefore  unconsumed. 

It  was  reserved  for  Argand,  about  the  year  1784,  to  invent  the  well-known 
lamp  with  a  circular  hollow  wick  and  burner,  that  still  bears  his  name.  In  this 
the  wick  is  thin,  and  the  air  supplied  on  both  sides,  without  and  within.  The 
addition  of  the  glass  chimney  to  the  burner  makes  the  combustion  nearly  per- 
fect; and  to  this  day,  although  there  have  been  some  slight  modifications  of 
arrangement,  nothing  has  been  devised  to  supersede  his  original  idea.  The  effi- 
ciency of  the  double  current  thus  furnished,  any  one  may  easily  test,  who  has 

145 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


an  Argand  burner,  by  closing  tbe  apertures  over  tbe  drip-pan,  tbrougb  winch  the 
interior  current  of  air  is  supplied.  The  lamp  instantly  smokes  terribly,  while  on 
opening  the  apertures  again,  the  smoke  ceases,  and  the  flame  falls  and  becomes 
white. 

Tlio  oil  used  for  these  lamps  was  at  first  spermaceti  oil,  or  olive  oil.  Latterly, 
in  England,  but  especially  in  France,  oil  of  Colza,  obtained  from  a  species  of  wild 
cabbage  and  similar  to  what  is  known  here  as  rape-seed  oil,  has  been  extensively 
introduced,  and  is  preferred  on  account  of  giving  a  more  intense  brilliancy,  steadier 
flame,  and  less  charring  of  the  wick,  as  well  as  on  account  of  its  greater  cheapness 
in  the  market  than  any  other  oil  in  use. 

Other  materials  for  illumination  have  been,  it  is  true,  proposed  at  various 
times  in  the  last  twenty-five  years,  but  none  that  appear,  on  a  consideration  of  all 
the  circumstances,  superior  to  oil.  Thus  the  use  of  carburetted  hydrogen  gas 
distilled  from  coal,  rosin,  or  oil,  such  as  is  used  for  street-lighting,  has  been  sug- 
gested ;  but  the  greater  risk  of  irregularity  in  the  manufacture  and  supply,  as 
well  as  the  inconvenience  of  feeding  with  it  those  lights  that  are  intended  to  re- 
volve (at  least  on  the  reflecting  system),  have  been  judged  to  render  it  inexpedi- 
ent. The  voltaic  light  of  Mr.  Gardner,  produced  by  a  current  of  electricity 
between  two  nicely  adjusted  charcoal  points ;  the  Drummond  light,  arising  from 
the  ignition  of  lime  in  the  flame  of  an  oxy-hydrogen  blow-pipe ;  and  the  Bude 
light  of  Mr.  Gurney,  in  which  oxygen  (instead  of  the  dilution  of  that  gas  in 
atmospheric  air),  is  furnished  to  support  the  combustion  of  oil,  all  afford  a  flame 
of  great  brilliancy  and  intensity,  but  are  so  comparatively  complicated  and  uncer- 
tain as  to  be  of  disadvantageous,  or  at  least  doubtful  application,  in  a  system 
whose  purpose  requires  every  arrangement  to  be  simple,  uniform,  and  unfailing. 

But  whatever  may  be  the  material  for  producing  the  flame,  it  is  manifest 
without  any  particular  investigation  of  the  laws  of  light,  that  of  a  mere  naked 
flame,  a  large  part  (probably  7-8  of  the  whole),  will  be  diffused  without  serving 
any  useful  purpose.  This  useful  purpose  in  the  case  of  great  sea-lights,  is,  to  be 
visible  at  as  great  a  distance  as  possible ;  hence,  with  these,  the  rays  or  beams  of 
light  require  to  be  nearly  horizontal.  In  smaller  lights,  such  as  for  harbors, 
channels,  &c,  the  purpose  is,  to  be  visible  close  at  hand ;  for  which  a  greater 
divergence  or  throwing  down  of  the  beams  upon  the  surface  of  the  water  is  requi- 
site. In  either  case  it  is  obvious  that  the  whole  of  the  upper  part  of  the  flame 
above  its  centre,  from  which  the  beams  are  virtually  radiated,  is  useless,  for  it 
strikes  above  its  horizon  where  it  could  not  possibly  be  seen,  unless  some  auxiliary 
contrivance  be  adopted  for  catching,  as  it  were,  those  stray  rays,  and  diverting 
thein  in  a  proper  direction. 

As  it  happens  in  many  instances  that  only  a  part  of  the  horizon  is  seaward, 
and  therefore  needs  the  illumination,  the  earliest  used  of  such  auxiliaries  would  be 
a  flat  reflecting  surface,  like  the  plate  of  brass  which,  so  late  as  the  beginning  of 
this  century,  was  to  be  seen  on  the  landward  side  of  the  flame  at  some  of  the 
English  Light-Houses.  But  a  flat  surface  would  soon  be  found  inefficient,  and, 
in  point  of  fact,  would  not  collect  more  than  5  or  6  per  cent,  of  the  otherwise  lost 
light.  A  spherical  one  would  be  better,  and  we  may  suppose  followed  next  in 
improvement,  yet  leaving  much  to  be  desired.  Geometers  had  long  known  the 
properties  of  another  curved  surface,  which  they  term  paraboloidal,  in  the  capa- 
city which  it  has  of  transmitting  in  a  direction  parallel  to  its  axis,  all  beams  that 
radiate  on  it  from  a  particular  point  called  its  focus ;  but  the  mechanicians  were 
either  not  properly  invoked,  or  else  shrunk  from  the  practical  difficulties 
of  executing  a  reasonably  correct  surface  of  the  form  required.  Small  panes  or 
facets  of  looking-glass  were  tried,  set  in  paraboloidal  moulds  of  wood  or  plaster, 
but  at  last,  stimulated  by  the  improvement  in  the  light  of  Argand's  lamp,  the 
genius  of  Borda,  about  1784,  triumphed  over  the  obstacles,  and  caused  the  erec- 
tion in  the  Cordouan  Tower  of  really  paraboloidal  metallic  reflectors. 

Since  then,  the  immense  advantage  of  this  method  has  caused  it  to  be  adopted 
every  where  under  various  modifications,  and  as  every  system,  to  be  known  must 
have  a  name,  this  from  the  Greek  word  expressive  of  its  most  remarkable  feature, 
is  designated  as  the  Catoptric  system. 

It  is  clear,  nevertheless,  from  the  form  of  this  curved  surface  (which  is  most  like 
tho  larger  end  of  an  egg-shell  broken  transversely  about  one-third  of  its  length  from 
that  end,  and  with  a  luminous  point  placed  about  two-thirds  of  the  depth  inside), 
that  the  efficiency  of  the  light  within  is  laterally  very  much  restricted  by  the 
sides  of  the  reflector,  beyond  which  the  flame  would  be  of  course  masked.  In  point 
of  fact,  a  single  lamp  and  reflector  is  only  brilliant  over  about  4  per  cent.,  or  the 
fjth  of  the  horizon,  to  extend  which  arc  of  efficiency,  it  is  of  course  necessary 
to  place  the  lamps  and  reflectors  themselves  in  an  arc,  or  where  the  whole  hori- 
zon requires  to  be  illuminated  (as  in  great  sea-lights  situated  off  the  mouths 
of  ostuaries)  in  the  circumference  of  a  circle.  In  order  to  obtain  the  requi- 
site quantity  of  light,  lamps  so  arranged  are  placed  tier  above  tier,  until  found 
sufficient. 

Another  resort  was  had  by  Borda,  which,  as  affecting  another  point  of  great 
importance  in  the  distinctive  character  of  lights,  is  of  immense  interest,  while  it 
answered  also  the  immediate  aim  of  being  visible  over  the  whole  horizon — in 
making  the  frame  that  carried  the  lights  revolve.  In  this  arrangement,  the 
lamps  and  reflectors  are  set,  instead  of  in  a  circle,  tier  above  tier  on  the  sides  of  a 


square  or  polygon ;  and,  as  they  turn  on  a  central  vertical  shaft,  each  set  of 
lamps  successively  throws  its  light  over  every  point  of  the  horizon.  Ab 
the  rate  of  revolution  is  quite  rapid,  the  intervals  of  greatest  brilliancy  at 
any  given  point  are  very  short,  not  exceeding  a  few  minutes. 

In  this  way,  both  because  the  impression  on  the  eye  of  the  observer  from  the 
first  beam,  for  instance,  is  augmented  by  that  from  tho  quickly  following  second 
beam,  and  because  the  lamps  can  be  more  conveniently  adjusted  on  a  plane  than 
on  a  curved  surface,  revolving  lights  are,  witli  the  same  number  of  lamps,  burn- 
ing a  uniform  quantity  of  oil,  virtually  more  luminous  than  if  the  frame  were 
fixed.  Besides,  by  altering  the  rate  of  revolution,  the  intervals  between  the 
greatest  and  least  brilliancy  (the  first  occurring  when  the  observer  is  directly 
opposite  the  lamp-bearing  face,  and  the  last  when  the  dark  angle  of  the  frame  is 
in  line  with  him),  may  be  altered  too,  so  as  to  give  within  certain  limits  quite  a 
marked  and  distinctive  character  to  the  light  in  question. 

Various  other  modes  (some  of  them  of  extreme  ingenuity,  and  among  these 
that  of  Bordier  Marcet,  the  pupil  and  successor  of  Argand)  have  been  proposed 
for  illuminating  an  entire  horizon  at  once,  by  cutting  away  the  closed  end  of  a 
reflector,  and  thus  retroverting  the  rays.  But  none  of  these  appear  to  have  com- 
manded an  undoubted  preference,  and  therefore  need  not  be  spoken  of  here,  where 
the  object  is  more  to  indicate  the  actual,  than  to  speculate  on  the  possible. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  efficient  obstacles  to  the  success  of  these  contrivances, 
which  with  all  their  geometrical  profundity  are  rather  complicated  and  fatiguing 
to  be  considered,  has  been  in  the  adoption  of  another  system,  proceeding  upon 
an  opposite  principle ;  and  which,  instead  of  reflecting  the  rays  by  a  polished 
surface,  causes  them  to  pass  through  glass,  and  to  be,  as  it  is  called,  refracted.  In 
the  nomenclature  of  this,  as  of  the  other  system,  the  classic  language  of  Greece 
has  been  resorted  to,  and  from  the  old  word  in  that  country  signifying  to  be 
visible  through,  it  is  termed  the  Dioptric  System.  And  as  in  the  progressive 
improvement  towards  economy  of  light,  reflections  of  the  wandering  rays  were 
produced  by  special  contrivances,  it  has  also  seemed  proper  to  designate  it  as  a 
compound  system  by  the  title  Cata-dioptrio  or  Dia-oatoptrio.  This  alternative 
epithet  is,  to  be  sure,  used  more  accordiug  to  the  taste  of  the  person  employing 
it,  than  according  to  any  established  rule. 

This  system,  however  entitled,  is  due  to  Augustin  Fresnel,  a  Frenchman  by 
birth,  but  a  cosmopolite  by  genius,  whose  name  will  ever  be  recorded  among  the 
highest  of  those  whose  researches  in  pure  science  have  been  applied  by  them- 
selves to  the  vast  practical  benefit  of  mankind.  And  it  was  with  the  severe 
logic  grown  familiar  to  him  in  such  researches,  that  he  was  enabled  to  sweep 
aside  from  the  practical  problem  the  vague  crudities  of  those  who  had  preceded 
him,  and  to  go  at  once,  unerringly  and  unfailingly  to  his  well-defined  and  bene- 
ficent aim. 

The  principle  of  this  dioptric  system  is  easily  intelligible  to  any  one  who  has 
ever  amused  himself  with  a  burning-glass,  or  sun-glass,  or  magnifier.  In  that, 
the  rays  from  the  sun,  which  from  the  great  distance  traversed  may  be  assumed 
as  being  parallel,  are  bent  from  their  rectilineal  course  both  on  entering  and  on 
leaving  the  glass,  so  as  to  be  converged  to  a  point  or  focus,  which  is  brilliant  and 
heating  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  glass,  and  therefore  the  number  of  parallel 
rays  falling  on  it.  Now  if  we  consider  the  condition  reversed  and  the  luminous 
point  or  light  at  the  focus  to  be  pre-existing,  it  is  evident  that  the  rays  diverging 
from  it  towards  the  glass,  will  be  bent  in  passing  through,  and  must  como  out 
parallel  on  the  other  side.  This  geometers  and  opticians  knew,  and  they  also 
knew,  before  Fresnel,  how  to  calculate  the  amount  of  bending  or  refractiou 
which  must  take  place  in  a  piece  of  glass  of  a  given  convexity.  So,  a  hundred 
years  ago,  lenses  were  actually  applied  in  several  light-houses  in  England  and 
Ireland,  but  the  practical  conditions  conformed  so  badly  to  the  theoretical,  that 
the  implements  became  consumers  instead  of  economizers  of  light.  The  princi- 
pal difficulty  seems  to  have  arisen  from  the  great  thickness  at  the  centre  given  to 
a  uniform  lens  cut  from  one  piece.  Buffon  conceived  the  idea  of  cutting  away  a 
great  part  of  this  superfluous  thickness,  and  of  cutting  the  lens  in  concentric 
echelons.  The  keenness  of  this  conception  was  more  than  neutralized  by  the 
mechanical  difficulties  of  the  execution,  and  except  the  two  glasses  of  Rochon  and 
Cookson,  no  one  has  been  bold  enough  to  try  the  experiment  again. 

The  idea  of  Buffon  seems  to  have  been  that  the  lens,  to  work  satisfactorily, 
must  be  of  one  homogeneous  and  continuous  piece ;  and  this  seems  to  have  pos 
sessed  him,  although  he  saw  so  clearly  that  breaking  up  the  curved  continuity  of 
surface  would  not  embarrass  the  result,  and  was  therefore  just  upon  the  right 
track. 

Condorcet,  who,  in  his  capacity  of  Secretary  to  the  French  Academy  of 
Sciences,  pronounced  tho  eloge  of  his  illustrious  fellow-member,  and  who  there- 
fore  had  studied  connectedly  and  dispassionately  the  progress  of  discovery  in 
Science  and  Art,  was  not  thus  pre-occupied,  and  at  once  seized  upon  and  hap- 
pily expressed  the  idea  of  building  up  a  lens  in  separate  pieces.  But  neither 
he  nor  Brewster,  who,  in  1811,  spoke  judiciously  (as  he  always  does)  in  relation 
to  the  same  suggestion,  followed  it  up  ;  and  it  was  reserved  for  Fresnel,  in  1822, 
both  to  describe  the  theoretical  principles,  and  to  give  the  practical  formula)  for 
what  he  termed  annular  lenses.  In  this  we  hardly  know  which  most  to  admire — 


* 


THE    FEESNEL    LENS — ELEVATION. 
147 


THE    NEW   YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


his  mathematical  logic  or  his  mechanical  intuition ;  the  accuracy  with  which  he 
defined  the  abstraction,  or  the  comprehensive  self-possession  with  which  he  knew 
how,  in  certain  particulars,  to  concede  something  of  the  rigidity  of  that  abstrac- 
tion to  the  incomplete  resources  of  the  mechanician.  Yet  he  was  fortunate  too 
in  his  mechanical  assistant ;  and  the  name  of  Soleil  still  lives  in  significant  con- 
nection with  an  apparatus  capable  of  making  an  oil  lamp  of  man's  construction, 
to  rival  the  same  situations,  and  indeed,  replace  the  Sun. 

A  similar  good  fortune  seems  to  have  attended  his  design  ever  since,  and  the 
several  improvements  of  Leonor  Fresnel,  Alan  Stevenson,  and  Reynaud,  have  been 
skilfully  met  and  carried  out  by  Soleil,  Jr.,  Lepaute,  and  Letourneau.  A  con- 
siderable part  of  the  success  is  owing  to  the  superiority  of  the  manufacture  of  the 
glass,  in  which  the  French  (thanks  to  the  judicious  and  liberal  aid  afforded  by 
the  government)  excel  all  other  nations.  The  superiority  of  the  French  glass,  in 
fact,  has  rendered  the  Paris  workshops  the  only  resort  for  Light- House  lenses,  and 
until  an  equally  good  material  can  be  produced  elsewhere,  any  competition  is 
both  needless  and  hopeless. 

The  main  improvements  just  now  mentioned,  consist  in  dispensing  to  a  con- 
siderable degree  with  metallic  framing  for  the  separate  elements  of  the  lens,  and 
above  all,  in  making  the  horizontal  section  of  the  lens  annular  instead  of  polygonal, 
as  it  was  first  built.  But  these  particulars  are  more  artistical  than  normal,  and 
the  most  approved  form,  which  the  lens  that  these  notes  are  intended  to  illus- 
trate may  be  taken  to  exhibit,  is  yet  substantially  the  apparatus  of  Fresnel. 

As  constructed,  then,  the  lens  may  be  described  as  consisting  in  the  middle 
part  of  a  cylinder  of  glass,  composed  of  a  plano-convex  hoop  in  the  centre,  and 
above  and  below  of  a  number  of  hoops  having  each  a  triangular  section,  which, 
when  united,  present  the  appearance  of  a  number  of  right  and  inverted  hood- 
mouldings.  All  these  hoops  are  in  segments  connected  together,  and  finally 
secured  by  an  upper  and  lower  rib  and  staves  of  gun-metal.  Above  this  cylinder 
is  a  truncated  none  of  triangular  hoops  of  glass  as  before,  compacted  vertically  by 
a  staircase  bracing  of  metal.  This  cone  takes  the  place,  and  more,  of  the  plane 
mirrors  that  were  at  first  applied  to  catch  and  collect,  and  suitably  distribute  the 
rays  that  would  otherwise  be  lost  upwards  from  the  flame.  And  in  like  manner 
similar  hoops  are  arranged  below  in  an  inverted  sense,  to  serve  the  purpose  of 
the  earlier  small  paraboloidal  mirrors  that  received  the  rays,  all  wasted  else,  below. 

The  operation  of  the  lens  when  the  light  is  to  be  fixed,  is  readily  intelligible. 
The  lamp  being  lit,  diverging  rays  striking  any  part  of  the  central  plano-convex 
lens,  are  bent  in  passing  through  it,  and  come  out  in  a  direction  parallel  with  the 
horizon.  The  same  happens  with  rays  of  greater  angular  elevation  or  depression 
which  transcend  the  plano-convex  rib,  and  fall  upon  any  of  the  hoops ;  they  are 
bent  in  their  passage  and  transmitted  horizontally  like  the  former.  Those  rays, 
however,  which  reach  the  conoidal  hoops  either  above  or  below  the  cylinder, 
undergo  a  more  complex  action  ;  the  alternating  refraction  and  reflection  in  which 
justify  the  epithet  before  given  of  cata-dioptric.  Taking  one  of  the  hoops  of  the 
upper  conoid,  for  example,  a  ray  from  the  lamp  striking  upon  the  convex  surface 
of  one  of  the  sides  adjacent  to  the  obtuse  angle  of  the  triangular  section,  is  re- 
fracted upwards  so  as  to  strike  within  a  particular  angle  (that  of  total  reflection, 
as  it  is  called),  the  curved  surface  of  the  longer  side  of  the  hoop's  section.  If  it 
struck  this  last  surface  at  some  other  arbitrary  angle,  instead  of  being  reflected,  it 
would  pass  through  the  surface,  be  beat  in  passing  and  thrown  out  vertically 
upwards.  But  the  proper  angle  having  been  attained  in  the  section  of  the  hoop, 
and  its  position  in  respect  to  the  focus  (and  thus  the  limits  of  possible  rays),  the 
aforesaid  ray  does  not  pass  at  all  through  the  surface,  but  is  thence  reflected 
downwards,  to  the  remaining  surface  of  the  hoop,  where  it  has  to  endure  one 
more  bending  that  allows  it  then  to  escape  horizontally  and  parallel  with  all  the 
rest.  With  the  hoops  below  the  cylinder,  the  action  on  the  ray  is  just  the  same, 
only  the  path  is  inverted ;  and,  in  both  cases,  the  divergent  rays  from  the  lamp 
go  round  a  corner,  as  it  were,  in  order  to  fall  into  the  line  of  proper  horizontal 
direction. 

"When  the  apparatus  is  a  revolving  one,  the  behavior  of  the  rays  is  the  same  ; 
their  optical  effect  and  appearance,  however,  is  different.  Instead  of  presenting 
a  steady  light  of  nearly  equal  luminousness  to  every  arc  of  the  horizon,  they  show 
successive  flashes  or  blazes  of  light,  succeeding  one  another  at  intervals,  which 
are  regulated  by  the  rotation  of  the  apparatus,  by  the  sectional  form  of  the 
hoops,  in  a  measure,  and  their  angular  position  with  respect  to  the  focus.  Varia- 
tions in  this  particular  may  be  arranged  to  alter,  within  certain  limits,  the  respec- 
tive durations  of  the  flashes  and  the  intervening  obscurity,  and  to  make  at  given 
distances  even  positive  eclipses  of  light.  These  flashes  and  eclipses  are,  in  the 
s  particular  lens  here  catalogued,  uniform  for  the  whole  vertical  height  of  the 
apparatus ;  a  property  not  so  fully  enjoyed  by  any  other  one  before,  and  which 
therefore  entitles  it,  and  its  duplicate,  now  being  made  for  the  Cordouan  Tower, 
to  the  epithet,  among  others,  of  ?iolypsal. 

Each  one  of  the  horizontal  elements  or  hoops,  in  number  above  forty,  requires 
its  own  special  calculation  for  its  particular  form  on  all  its  sides,  varying  accord- 
ing to  its  distance  from,  and  angular  relation  to,  the  focus  and  the  size  of  the  lamp 
there.  The  section  of  these  hoops  has  been  called  just  now  triangular ;  but  the 
triangle  is  in  fact  spherical :  the  reflecting  surfaces  and  the  inner  refracting  ones 


towards  the  lamp  being  convex,  and  the  outer  refracting  surfaces  towards  the 
horizon  being  concave,  with  radii  of  curvature  varying  for  each. 

One  who  iooks  at  the  result  only  in  the  lens  as  built,  can  form  but  little  idea 
of  the  extensive  arithmetical  apparatus  preliminary  to  determining  what  the 
elements  shall  be;  or  of  the  vast  demands  for  patient  and  intelligent  labor  in 
forcing  a  refractory,  yet  fragile  material,  like  glass,  to  adapt  itself  to  these  deter- 
minations. And  after  all  this  has  been  done,  it  is  no  small  task  to  arrange  the 
elements  conformably  together ;  or  even  to  test  when  entirely  finished  the  accu- 
racy of  their  adjustment. 

The  lamp  of  the  apparatus  has  already  been  several  times  referred  to,  and  is 
one  of  the  most  important  parts  of  the  arrangement.  In  fact,  upon  it  depends,  in 
the  first  place,  the  whole  efficiency  of  the  apparatus,  and  as  it  is  single  and  stands 
alone,  upon  it  falls,  too,  a  great  part  of  the  responsibility.  >  As  devised  by  Fresnel, 
it  consists,  for  the  first  order  of  lights,  of  an  Argand  burner  of  four  concentric 
wicks,  each,  of  course,  having  its  appropriate  currents  of  air  outside  and  in,  and 
its  proper  rack  for  regulating  its  height,  which  is  in  general  i  inch.  This  assem- 
blage is  supplied  with  oil  by  a  pump,  as  in  the  well-known  Carcel  or  Mechanical 
lamp.  Of  course,  no  contrivance  like  a  fountain  lamp,  such  as  is  proper  for  reflec- 
tors, could  be  applied  here  without  cutting  off  a  portion  of  the  light;  and  besides, 
the  pump  answers  the  purpose,  even  better,  of  supplying  uniformly  the  excessive 
quantity,  (about  three  times  the  actual  consumption),  that  is  requisite  to  prevent 
the  partial  combustion  and  coaling  of  the  wicks  themselves.  Such  is  the  uniformity 
attained  in  this  part  of  the  apparatus,  that  but  three  cases  are  reported  as  having  oc- 
curred in  the  Scottish  light-house  establishment,  during  a  period  of  nearly  ten  years, 
calling  for  a  replacement  of  the  lamp,  by  the  spare  one,  during  the  hours  of 
burning;  and  such  the  efficiency,  that  in  the  same  establishment,  lamps  are  known 
to  burn  with  colza  oil  for  seventeen  hours,  without  any  necessity  for  trimming 
the  wicks. 

The  quantity  supplied  by  the  pumps  (worked  by  a  weight  and  a  train  of 
clock  work)  is  per  hour  6{|  lbs.,  or  about  f  of  a  gallon  of  oil ;  of  which,  one-fourth 
is  burned,  and  the  rest  flows  over  the  wick  and  is  caught  in  a  dripper  below,  to 
be  strained  and  used  over  again.  The  volume  of  flame  maintained  by  this  supply 
is  nearly  a  cylinder  about  4£  inches  in  diameter  and  about  4  inches  in  height. 

The  difference  between  a  luminous  mass  so  large  and  the  mathematical  point 
of  light,  infinitely  small,  which  lies  at  the  bottom  of  the  theoretical  conceptions  of 
the  subject,  might  at  first  sight  appear  likely  to  cause  uncertainty  and  error  in 
the  arithmetical  determinations.  But  this  is  much  more  than  compensated  by 
the  advantageous  physical  effect  which  results.  In  fact,  although  the  uniform 
distribution  of  rays  of  equal  intensity  over  every  part  of  the  horizon,  belongs 
only  to  such  a  mathematical  point  as  has  been  mentioned,  aided  by  forms  de- 
duced from  rigorous  geometrical  laws,  yet  this  is  attainable  nearly  enough  other- 
wise; while  the  overlapping,  as  it  were,  of  the  reflected  and  refracted  beams, 
which  arises  from  a  focal  flame  of  large  volume,  is  essential  to  the  prolongation  of 
the  flashes  to  a  degree  that  will  answer  the  purpose  of  the  mariner.  The  duration 
of  these  flashes  belongs  to  the  divergence,  owing  to  the  great  volume  of  the  flame. 

Such,  then,  is  the  Fresnel  lens  of  the  present  Exhibition,  which,  though  it 
does  not  hold  the  costly  charms  of  the  Koh-i-noor,  yet  offers  in  this  a  work  of 
art  far  more  valuable  than  any  diamond  that  ever  gleamed  in  Golconda :  for  it 
concerns,  not  human  pride  and  ornament,  but  human  life  and  hopes  and  fears  of 
almost  countless  hearts  dependent  on  that  life.  It  must  not  be  supposed  from 
this  apparently  exaggerated  eulogium  of  the  Lens-Light,  that  the  catoptric  sys- 
tem is  depreciated.  There  are  circumstances,  on  the  contrary, .in  which  the 
appliance  of  reflector-lights  upon  the  old  system,  would  be  undoubtedly  judicious 
and  economical.  Indeed,  no  system  could  be  otherwise  than  partial  in  successful 
result,  which  does  not  combine  (as  the  Fresnel  lens,  in  its  measure  does)  the 
phenomena  of  both  refraction  and  reflection.  It  is  upon  this  conclusion  that 
the  improvement  of  Alan  Stevenson  rests,  in  placing  a  spherical  mirror  behind 
a  Fresnel  lens,  in  locations  where  only  part  of  the  horizon  is  required  to  be  illu- 
minated, to  catch  and  return  the  landward  rays  that  would  otherwise  be  useless. 
And  with  this  accords  too,  the  valuable  suggestion  of  Jwloj/Jiotal  arrangements  by 
another  Stevenson — Thomas,  the  last  who  will  be  named  here,  which  consists  of 
a  curved  reflecting  surface,  or  surfaces  that  throw  forward  all  the  posterior  rays, 
and  of  a  refracting  series  which  does  the  same  for  the  anterior  rays,  which  in  the 
common  catoptric  system  are  left  to  go  off  as  ordinary  divergent  rays,  and  are 
therefore  uesless  for  nautical  purposes. 

But  leaving  those  improvements  which  certain  circumstances  would  sometimes 
render  very  appropriate  and  desirable,  and  leaving  also  the  exceptional  cases  in 
which  the  ordinary  catoptric  system  would  be  all-sufficient,  and  the  most  econo- 
mical, the  relative  merits  of  this  last,  and  of  the  lenticular  arrangement  for  general 
purposes,  and  as  a  normal  feature  in  a  national  establishment,  have  been  long 
since  ascertained,  by  photometric  and  financial  comparison,  to  be  largely  in  fa- 
vor of  the  lens.  It  is  true,  that  a  reflector  from  its  nature  receives  and  trans- 
mits about  ten  per  cent,  more  of  the  actual  luminous  cylinder  than  the  lens  ar- 
rangement can  do ;  but  this  greater  quantity  is  distributed  over  a  larger  arc, 
and  therefore  so  diluted,  as  it  were,  that  the  space-penetrating  power,  or 
range  of  equal  volume  of  flame  (other  things  being  equal),  is  less.    Also,  the 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


equal  distribution  of  light  over  different  arcs  of  the  horizon  at  eqnal  dis- 
tances, is  much  less  nearly  approached  in  reflecting  than  in  a  catadiop- 
tric  arrangement.  Finally  and  conclusively  :  in  an  administrative  point  of  view, 
the  quantity  of  light  obtainable  in  the  combustion  of  equal  quantities  of  oil  in 
the  same  time,  is  four  times  greater  in  the  lenticular  than  in  the  reflector  system. 

And  this  verdict  of  experts  is  every  year  more  and  more  being  accepted  and 
conformed  to  in  the  great  National  Light-House  Establishments  of  the  world. 
Since  1822,  when  the  Cordouan  Tower  first  received  a  Fresnel  light,  these  lenses, 
of  different  sizes  to  suit  circumstances,  have  becomo  universal  along  the  coast  of 
France.  Holland  was  the  next  government  to  follow  the  example  of  France; 
and,  after  some  efforts  to  manufacture  the  apparatus  for  its  own  national  use, 
abandoned  the  attempt,  and  gladly  reverted  to  the  French  workshops.  The  other 
maritime  nations  also  throng  those  shops  ;  so  that  for  some  years  it  has  been  diffi- 
cult to  have  the  various  orders  filled  as  promptly  as  they  are  wanted.  Thus  in 
tin  live  years,  from  1846  to  1851,  to  go  no  lower  than  the  3d  order  lens,  which 
has  an  inside  diameter  of  nearly  forty  inches,  there  have  been  constructed  of 
those  great  sea  lights  upwards  of  one  hundred  and  twenty.  In  these  every  mari- 
time power  has  had  a  share.  Russia  only,  at  St.  Petersburg,  manufactures  for 
herself  under  the  guidance  of  the  younger  Soleil,  by  which  the  number  may  be 
increased  to  about  one  hundred  and  forty,  or  more  than  one  half,  it  is  supposed, 
of  all  the  stations  where  lights  of  the  powers  included  would  be  considered  ne- 
cessary. The  whole  number  of  lens  lights  in  the  world  was  estimated  in  1851, 
apparently  upon  authentic  statistics,  at  three  hundred  and  sixty-eight ;  a  number 
transcending  all  the  lights,  stationary  and  floating,  existing  upon  the  immense  ex- 
tent of  coast  of  the  United  States. 

In  this  country,  where  the  Light-House  Establishment  had  been  placed  under 
an  accounting  instead  of  executive  control,  not  much  activity  has  been,  until  lately, 
displayed.  The  discussions  in  Europe  since  1830,  however,  did  not  fail  of  attracting 
attention  here ;  and  at  length,  in  1838,  an  appropriation  was  made  by  Congress 
for  the  purchase  of  two  lenses  from  Paris.  These,  one  of  the  first  and  the  other 
of  the  second  order  of  Fresnel,  were,  after  some  time,  placed  at  the  Highlands 
of  Navesink,  near  the  entrance  of  New-York  Bay,  where  they  are  still,  and 
might  seem  to  have  been  long  enough,  in  spite  of  imperfections  in  their  manage- 
ment, to  have  stimulated  a  more  general  acceptance  of  the  system. 

Some  time  after,  in  1845,  the  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Mr.  Walker, 
took  the  subject  up  with  his  characteristic  ability,  and  obtaining  the  detail  of  two 
officers  of  the  Navy,  Messrs.  Jenkins  and  Bache,  despatched  them  to  Europe  for 
the  purpose  of  examining  and  reporting  on  the  Light-House  systems  there.  This 
duty  they  performed  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  Department. 

But  at  that  period,  several  causes,  and  principally  the  absorption  of  the  Go- 
vernment in  the  military  operations  that  were  then  being  carried  on,  prevented 
the  interest  that  was  felt  in  the  subject  from  being  effectively  exercised ;  and  it 
was  only  in  1851  that  Congress  authorized  the  creation  of  a  provisional  Board,  to 
examine  into  and  report  upon  the  condition  of  the  Light-House  Establishment  of 
the  United  States,  upon  a  plan  somewhat  in  accordance  with  the  recommenda- 
tions of  the  Hon.  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  1846. 

Early  in  the  following  year  (1852),  this  Board  presented  a  voluminous  report 
of  inquiries,  considerations,  and  recommendations.  The  plan  of  re-organization 
submitted  by  it  was  approved  by  the  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Mr.  Corwin, 
and,  mainly  by  the  lucid  explanations  of  the  Hon.  Alexander  Evans,  of  Maryland, 
whose  name  will  always  deserve  to  be  mentioned  in  any  notice  of  the  Light- 
House  system  of  the  United  States,  was  accepted  and  authorized  by  Congress. 

By  this  authorization  a  permanent  Board  has  been  constituted  with  powers 
sufficient,  it  is  believed,  to  carry  out  the  aim  and  intention  of  Congress.  It  can 
hardly  be  amiss  to  add,  that  the  character  of  the  members  composing  it,  offers  a 
safe  pledge  of  the  judicious  energy  with  which  the  necessary  rectifications  and 
improvements  will  be  carried  out.  To  their  courtesy  is  owing  the  opportunity  of 
showing  the  present  Lens  which  stands  among  the  chiefest  objects  of  enlightened 
interest  in  the  Exhibition. 


GLASS. 

ALTHOUGH  the  display  of  glass  in  the  present  Exhibition  is  very  far  short  of 
what  it  ought  to  have  been,  to  satisfy  public  expectation  and  the  inherent  in- 
terest of  the  subject  itself,  still  there  is  enough  in  this  class  to  convey  much 
instruction,  and  to  excite  a  praiseworthy  curiosity  to  know  something  more  of 
the  art  of  glass  making  than  is  commonly  the  share  of  intelligent  people.  We  pro- 
pose in  this  article  to  present  a  concise  and  untcchnical  account  of  the  art,  drawn 
from  the  most  reliable  sources* 


»  The  article  Glass  in  the  Encyclopedia  Mctropoiitnna ;  that  in  Knapp's  Chemistry  applied  to  Manufac- 
tures, Vol.  IIL;  the  Essay  In  the  London  Jury  lioports,  1851,  p.  621  ;  and  tho  chapters  in  Dumas'  Chem- 
istry on  tho  same  subject,  form  tho  most  Important  and  accessible  paporeupon  glass. 

150 


The  origin  of  glass  making  is  lost  in  the  shades  of  an  antiquity  so  remote 
that  it  is  not  easy  to  distinguish  fable  from  history.  To  the  former  most 
certainly  belongs  the  absurd  legend  so  often  quoted  from  Pliny,  that  glass  was 
first  formed  accidentally  by  Phoenician  dealers  in  native  soda,  who,  halting 
on  the  shores  of  the  river  Belus,  and  resting  their  kettles  over  the  fire  upon  lumps 
of  soda,  caused  the  sand  of  the  shore  to  form  glass  with  the  alkali.  A  single 
fact  is  worth  all  the  speculation  which  ingenuity  can  invent,  and  such  an  one  is 
supplied  by  the  researches  of  Layard  among  the  ruins  of  Nineveh,  where  he 
found  a  perfect  and  beautifully  formed  vase  of  glass,  now  in  the  British  Museum. 
It  bears  the  marks  of  having  been  turned  in  a  lathe,  a  process  never  attempted 
in  our  times.  The  maker's  name  is  also  engraved  on  its  foot,  and  the  circum- 
stances attending  its  discovery  authorize  the  belief  that  it  dates  at  least  seven 
centuries  before  the  Christian  era.  The  same  indefatigable  antiquarian  has  also 
discovered  in  the  ruins  of  the  same  city  a  convex  lens  of  rock  crystal,  proving  that 
the  ancient  Assyrians  were,  to  some  degree,  familiar  with  the  properties  of  light, 
as  well  as  with  chemistry.  The  inference  seems  well  sustained  also,  that  Archi- 
medes was  acquainted  with  the  scientific  uses  of  glass,  whether  he  used  it  or  not 
for  the  purpose  of  setting  fire  to  the  fleet  of  his  enemies,  as  is  usually  related  of 
him.  Sir  Gardiner  Wilkinson  (V ol.  iii.  p.  88),  copies  from  a  painting  of  Beni 
Hossan  the  representation  of  two  glass  blowers  inflating  by  hollow  rods  a  mass 
of  molten  glass.  This  Theban  monarch  reigned  about  3500  years  ago  (1647  B.  C.) 
and  long  before  Moses  became  a  pupil  in  the  schools  of  Pharaoh.  Wilkinson  adds 
that  "  Glass  vases,  if  we  may  trust  to  the  representations  in  the  Theban  paintings, 
are  frequently  shown  to  have  been  used  for  holding  wine  as  early  as  the  Exodus, 
about  1490  years  before  the  Christian  Era."  We  are  led  by  numerous  facts  to 
entertain  the  conviction,  that  the  Egyptians  were  well  acquainted  with  many 
chemical  processes,  and  that  they  attained  considerable  proficiency  in  the  practice 
of  the  chemical  arts.  This  empirical  knowledge  was  with  superstitious  care  con- 
fined to  the  order  of  the  priesthood,  and  was  probably  involved  in  the  same  mystery 
that  shrouded  their  religions  rites  with  the  design  to  magnify  the  holy  office,  and 
to  inspire  the  people  with  a  belief  in  the  divine  origin  of  the  sacerdotal  powers. 
Pliny  in  his  chapter  on  this  art  (lib.  36,  cap.  25),  gives  a  curious  and  very  interest- 
ing account  of  the  glass  houses  in  Sidon  and  in  Alexandria,  which  proves  not  only 
the  early  knowledge  of  the  art  of  glass  making,  but  also  that  the  ancients  prac- 
tised the  modes  now  in  use  for  cutting,  grinding,  gilding,  and  coloring. 

However  uncertain,  therefore,  may  be  the  date  of  discovery  of  this  most  useful 
art,  it  is  certain,  not  only  from  what  has  been  quoted,  but  also  from  all  the  other 
accounts  from  antiquity  that  have  come  down  to  us,  from  Herodotus,  Strabo,  Theo- 
pbrastus  and  others,  that  the  art  was  very  early  known,  and  carried  to  a  high  de- 
gree of  perfection.  It  is,  however,  equally  certain  that  its  use  in  early  times  was 
much  restricted,  and  that  even  as  late  as  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  after  the  know- 
ledge of  Egypt  had  been  transplanted  to  Rome,  goblets  and  vases  of  glass 
were  regarded  only  as  decorations  for  the  tables  of  the  Emperor  and  his 
wealthy  patricians.  The  Portland  vase  is  the  most  beautiful  specimen 
extant  of  these  ancient  goblets.  It  was  found  in  the  sarcophagus  of  Alex- 
ander Severus,  who  died  A.  D.  235,  and  is  now  in  the  British  Museum. 
It  is  curious  as  showing  the  perfect  state  of  the  art  at  that  time,  being 
formed  of  a  deep  cobalt  blue  body,  covered  by  a  white  enamel,  in  imitation  ob- 
viously of  the  onyx  agate.  The  exquisite  relievo  figures  upon  it  are  the  result 
of  cutting  away  this  white  surface,  and  exposing  the  dark  ground,  as  was  the  cus- 
tom in  the  hard  stone  seal  engraving  of  the  ancients. 

It  has  been  doubted  whether  glass  was  ever  fashioned  by  the  ancients  in  sheets 
for  admitting  light  in  windows,  but  we  remember  to  have  seen  in  Pompeii 
a  circular  disc  of  glass  12  or  14  inches  in  diameter,  filling  its  original  place 
in  a  circular  window  in  one  of  the  recently  excavated  houses  of  that  ancient  Ro- 
man city.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  also,  in  forming  an  opinion  on  this  subject, 
that  the  style  of  architecture  in  those  days  excluded  windows,  in  accordance  with 
the  climate  and  the  habits  of  the  people,  which  rendered  them  needless  unless  in 
rare  cases.  The  antiquarians  assert  that  the  circular  opening  in  the  dome  of  the 
Pantheon  at  Rome,  was  originally  filled  with  one  immense  sheet  of  glass,  but  this 
may  well  be  doubted. 

According  to  the  local  tradition  of  Venice,  the  manufacture  of  glass  is  cOeval 
with  the  existence  of  the  city  itself ;  and  a  series  of  decrees  of  the  Republic,  com- 
mencing at  the  latter  part  of  the  13th  century,  show  that  the  art  was  carefully  pro- 
moted until  a  change  in  the  public  taste  deprived  Venice  of  her  profitable  mono- 
poly. In  the  13th  century,  glass  houses  became  so  numerous  as  to  expose  the 
city  to  danger  by  fire,  and  in  1291,  all  the  establishments  were  ordered  to  be  re- 
moved to  tho  separate  island  of  Murano. 

The  skilled  Greek  workmen  who  escaped  the  taking  of  Constantinople  in  1453, 
taught  the  Venetians  to  enrich  their  productions  by  coloring,  gilding,  and  enamel- 
ing. Early  in  the  16th  century  they  invented  a  delicate  and  enduring  mode  of 
enrichment — the  introduction  of  threads  of  colored  and  opaque  white  glass  into 
the  substance  of  tho  vessels.  For  two  centuries  tho  Venetians  monopolised  the 
glass  trade  of  Europe;  but  at  the  commencement  of  the  16th  century,  heavy 
cut  glass  became  fashionable,  and  the  trado  being  dispersed  to  Bohemia,  France, 
and  England,  tho  manufacture  of  filagree  glass  lost   its  importance,  though 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


it  has  always  been  continued  on  a  limited  scale.  Indeed,  the  Bohemian 
glass,  and  the  Venetian  with  its  slender,  graceful  forms,  and  curved  spiral  stems, 
parti-colored,  engraved,  or  plain,  have  never  been  surpassed  either  in  beauty  of 
form,  or  excellence  of  materials,  nor  have  they  even  been  successfully  imitated 
elsewhere  until  a  very  late  period. 

Such  is  a  brief  historical  sketch  of  this  art.  Let  us  now  attend  more  parti- 
cularly to  its  details. 

Glass  is,  essentially,  a  compound  of  silica  (tho  flint  is  nearly  pure  silica),  ren- 
dered fusible  by  an  alkali,  as  soda,  potash,  or  lime.  Sometimes  one  of  these,  but 
more  commonly  two  of  them,  and  occasionally  all  three,  enter  into  the  constitu- 
tion of  glass.  The  oxyd  of  lead,  is  also  an  important  constituent  of  what  is  called 
flint  glass.  This  metallic  oxyd  has  the  remarkable  property  of  dissolving  large  quan- 
tities of  silex,  and  of  giving  to  the  colorless  glass  which  it  forms  a  peculiar 
brilliancy,  such  as  can  in  no  other  way  be  procured.  Such  glass  is  also  peculiarly 
heavy,  and  to  its  density  owes  the  high  refracting  power  which  it  possesses.  In 
a  chemical  sense,  glass  is  regarded  as  a  salt,  and  belongs  to  the  large  family  of 
silicates,  of  which  numerous  examples  are  to  be  observed  in  nature.  Glass 
is,  however,  peculiar  in  this  respect,  by  which  it  is  distinguished  from  nearly  all 
natural  compounds  of  silex,  namely,  that  it  is  entirely  without  any  crystalline 
structure.  Its  particles  on  cooling  assume  no  regular  internal  arrangement,  they 
are  homogeneous,  but  are  without  form,  or  amorphous,  as  it  would  be  expressed 
in  mineralogical  language. 

Silica  by  itself  is  a  very  infusible  substance,  and  by  no  means  could  it  alone 
be  formed  into  vessels  by  aid  of  heat.  In  its  most  pure  form  it  occurs  in  beauti- 
ful transparent  colorless  crystals,  called  rock  crystal  or  quartz,  exceedingly  hard, 
and  not  easily  reduced  to  powder.  Silicious  sand  is  found,  however,  in  many 
places  remarkably  pure,  and  some  sandstones  exist  that  are  quite  pure  enough  to 
answer  the  purpose  of  the  glass  house.  Flints  found  so  abundantly  in  the  chalk  cliffs 
of  England,  are  also  nearly  pure  silica,  and  being  heated  and  quenched  in  water,  they 
crumble  easily,  and  form  the  material  of  a  large  part  of  the  English  glass.  The  term 
flint  glass  came  thus  into  use.  In  this  country  fine  glass  sand  is  found  in  the  county  of 
Berkshire  in  Massachusetts,  at  St.  Genevieve  in  Missouri,  and  at  St.  Paul's  in  Minneso- 
ta, on  the  Mississippi  River.  A  specimen  of  the  latter  (which  is  asyetonly  imperfectly 
known  to  the  manufacturer)  exists  in  the  Mineralogical  Cabinet  of  the  Associa- 
tion (No.  181  Mineralogical  Catalogue).  M.  Le  Due,  the  Minnesota  Commissioner, 
who  deposited  this  specimen,  has  placed  beside  it  a  specimen  of  flint  glass  made  from 
it,  which  is  remarkable  for  its  purity  of  color.  The  flexible  sandstone  from  North 
Carolina  (No.  163,  Class.  1),  would  also,  no  doubt,  prove  a  good  glass  material. 
The  existence  of  a  very  small  quantity  of  any  of  the  compounds  of  iron,  destroys 
the  value  of  the  sand  in  which  it  is  found,  from  the  color  which  it  imparts  to  the 
glass  made  from  it. 

The  heat  required  to  fuse  glass  depends  very  much  on  the  quantity  of  flux 
(alkali  or  oxyd  of  lead),  which  is  used  in  forming  the  compound,  but  the  good 
qualities  of  the  glass  require  that  no  more  flux  should  be  employed  than  will  ren- 
der it  easy  to  fashion  the  vessels  in  the  process  of  blowing.  In  badly  compound- 
ed glass,  so  much  alkali  is  sometimes  used  that  the  resulting  glass  is  soluble  in 
water,  thus  destroying  one  of  its  most  essential  qualities,  and  rendering  it  valueless, 
and  where  a  much  less  excess  is  used  it  still  causes  the  glass  to  sweat,  or  attract 
moisture  to  its  surface,  and  finally  to  become  rusty  or  opaque.  In  the  strictest  sense 
all  glass  is  somewhat  soluble.  The  very  hardest  chemical  glass  when  finely  pul- 
verised and  moistened  with  water,  yields  an  alkaline  reaction  to  tests,  and  water 
which  has  been  boiled  for  some  time  in  a  vessel  of  glass  is  found  to  contain  ap- 
preciable traces  of  silica.  Soda  when  employed  alone,  or  in  connection  with 
lime,  gives  to  the  glass  made  from  it  a  greenish  color,  more  or  less  decided,  while 
potash  salts  give  a  yellowish  tint.  To  correct  this  color  in  soda  glass,  and  to  re- 
move any  tint  of  a  similar  color  from  small  quantities  of  iron  present  in  the  sand, 
it  the  custom  of  the  glass  blower  to  use  some  metallic  oxyd,  which  will  aid  in 
decolorizing  the  product.  This  is  accomplished  either  by  a  change  which  the 
oxyd  produces  in  the  chemical  compounds  present  (e.  g.  as  by  reducing  the  per- 
oxyd  of  iron  to  the  condition  of  protoxyd,  which  forms  nearly  colorless  compounds 
when  cold),  or  by  supplying  another  color  complementary  to  the  offensive  one, 
thus  rendering  the  product  colorless.  Black  oxyd  of  manganese  is  such  a  sub- 
stance, and  has  been  long  used  by  the  glass  makers  for  this  purpose,  and  as  it 
seemed  to  the  uninformed  workmen  to  wash  out  the  color  of  their  material  it 
was  familiarly  called  glass  maker's  soap.  It  requires  to  be  used,  however,  with 
great  caution,  as  it  possesses  the  power  of  giving  a  pink,  amethystine,  or 
deep  violet  color  to  the  glass,  when  present  even  in  slight  excess.  Its  power  to 
neutralize  the  green  color  of  soda  glass  is  probably  owing  to  the  optical  effect  of 
the  red  color  of  the  manganese  compound,  which,  when  not  in  excess,  would 
prove  exactly  complementary  to  the  green,  and  white  glass  would  result.  It  is, 
however,  quite  common  to  see  in  glass  articles  of  common  use,  a  violet  tint  in  the 
thicker  parts  (as  in  the  bottoms  of  tumblers),  due  to  the  manganese.  The  white 
oxyd  of  arsenic  is  another  substance  constantly  used  in  the  glass  house  to  decolorize 
glass,  as  well  as  to  render  it,  when  used  in  excess,  opaline  or  opaque.  Borax  and 
nitre,  more  costly  substances,  are  less  often  employed  as  decolorizing  agents, 
although  they  possess  this  property  in  an  eminent  degree. 


It  is  thus  plain  that  a  good  deal  of  science  connects  itself  with  the  glass  maker's 
art,  and  that  it  is  indeed  truly  a  chemical  art.  To  its  improvement  the  first  chem- 
ists living  have  devoted  much  attention,  and  the  scientific  principles  involved  in 
the  selection  and  compounding  of  the  materials  of  glass,  and  of  the  pots  in  which 
it  is  fused,  are  perfectly  understood,  and  the  success  of  the  art  depends  on  the 
skill  and  good  judgment  with  which  these  principles  are  applied  in  practice. 

Colors  are  given  to  glass  by  the  use  of  metallic  oxyds,  whose  combinations 
result  in  the  production  of  various  transparent  colors.  Some  foreign  substances 
also,  as  carbon  and  oxyd  of  iron,  produce  also  various  shades  of  coljr,  from  me- 
chanical suspension  in  the  fluid  glass. 

Yellow  is  produced  in  cheap  ordinary  glass  by  smoke  soot,  or  any  other  form 
of  finely  divided  carbon,  which  in  greater  quantity  renders  the  glass  dark  brown 
or  black,  but  of  a  dirty  and  lustreless  aspect.  Glass  of  antimony  produces  a  fine 
yellow  in  glass,  and  cheaply.  Oxyd  of  silver,  applied  in  a  peculiar  way,  also  forms 
a  delicate  orange  in  glass  containing  alumina,  and  most  costly  of  all  is  the  beauti- 
ful yellow  green  formed  by  the  oxyd  of  uranium. 

Red. — This  color  is  produced  cheaply  by  the  addition  of  finely  pulverized  red 
oxyd  of  iron,  which,  being  mechanically  suspended  in  the  glass,  produced  a 
brownish  red  color  of  no  great  beauty.  The  sub-oxyd  of  copper,  (the  scales 
which  are  thrown  off  when  metallic  copper  is  quenched  in  water,)  produces 
a  red  of  great  beauty  and  depth  of  color.  The  metallic  oxyd  was  also  employed 
by  the  ancients  to  produce  red  glass,  as  the  analysis  of  some  of  their  specimens  has 
shown  most  conclusively.  It  was  used  likewise  by  mediaeval  artists  in  coloring  the 
glass  of  church  windows,  and  its  employment  for  the  same  purpose  in  modern 
times  is  but  the  re-discovery  of  an  old  fact.  Singularly  enough,  this  metallic  oxyd 
produces  its  appropriate  red  color  in  perfection  only  after  the  glass  has  been  cooled 
and  heated  a  second  time.  It  is  in  the  first  instance,  on  leaving  the  crucible,  nearly 
colorless,  with  a  slight  tinge  of  green,  and  becomes  deep  red  on  reheating,  a  change 
which  has  not  been  well  explained.  Should  any  decolorizing  material  be  need  in 
connection  with  sub-oxyd  of  copper,  the  glass  will  be  colored  green  instead  of  red, 
the  sub-oxyd  (Cu20)  being  converted  into  the  oxyd  (CuO)  of  copper,  which  produces 
green  tints.  Its  coloring  power  is  very  intense,  and  any  considerable  mass  or 
thickness  of  glass  containing  it  appears  black.  Hence  it  is  almost  invariably  used 
only  to  flash  or  cover  one  surface  of  vessels  to  be  colored  red. 

Gold  in  the  form  of  the  purple  of  Cassius,  (a  compound  of  gold  and  metallic 
tin,  produced  by  cautiously  precipitating  a  solution  of  gold  by  one  of  tin.)  will  pro- 
duce a  brilliant  red  color  in  glass,  which  may  be  graduated  to  produce  scarlet,  car- 
mine, rose,  or  ruby  tints.  This  color  is  very  powerful  as  well  as  expensive,  ono 
part  of  gold,  it  is  asserted,  producing  a  decided  rosy  tint  in  30,000  parts  of  glass. 
The  same  peculiarity  obtains  in  this  color  also  that  was  mentioned  of  the  copper 
red,  namely,  that  glass  colored  with  gold  is  nearly  colorless  or  slightly  yellow, 
until  it  is  cooled  and  heated  a  second  time,  when  it  assumes  its  proper  tint.  The 
Bohemian  ruby  glass  is  a  peculiar  color  prepared  in  special  manufactories,  and  sold 
in  cakes  to  the  manufacturer ;  but  the  essential  thing  is  after  all  gold  in  one  of  its 
forms  of  combination,  (viz.,  fulminating  gold.)  The  Bohemian  ruby  contains  no 
tin,  which  probably,  by  its  tendency  to  form  opaline  or  milky  glass,  may  have  an 
unfavorable  effect  on  the  rose  color,  while  a  small  quantity  of  oxyd  of  antimony 
added  in  the  Bohemian  red  glass,  heightens  the  brilliancy  of  the  ruby  tint.  Man- 
ganese, as  already  stated,  produces  an  amethystine  tint  in  glass,  a  peculiarity 
belonging  to  the  peroxyd  only,  as  the  protoxyd  of  manganese  gives  no  colors. 

Green. — This  color  is  produced  cheaply  in  common  ware  by  the  use  of  protoxyd 
of  iron,  but  this  color  is  feeble  and  of  little  brilliancy;  but  mingled  with  protoxyd 
of  copper,  it  forms  a  beautiful  emerald  color.  A  grass  or  yellow  green  is  produced 
by  using  the  sesquioxyd  of  chromium,  a  substance  abundantly  obtained  from  the 
chrome  iron  ores  of  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania,  (No.  137,  class  I.)  In  Bohemia,  the 
"  modern  emerald  green,"  as  it  is  called,  is  produced  from  a  mixture  of  the  oxyds 
of  nickel  and  uranium.  The  preparations  of  antimony  mingled  with  oxyd  of  cop- 
per, also  produce  a  fine  green  color. 

Blue  is  produced  almost  solely  by  the  use  of  oxyd  of  cobalt,  a  metal  associated 
with  nickel,  and  whose  oxyd  possesses  the  power  of  imparting  a  decided  bluish 
tinge  to  at  least  twenty  thousand  times  its  weight  of  glass.  The  exquisite  blue 
color  produced  in  glass  by  oxyd  of  cobalt  was  known  long  before  the  separate 
existence  of  cobalt  as  a  metal  was  suspected ;  and  the  manufacture  of  glass  colored 
with  it,  under  the  name  of  smalts,  and  used  for  giving  color  to  pottery  ware  or 
glass,  has  been  carried  on  in  Germany  for  centuries.  Zaffre  is  another  name  by 
which  the  impure  oxyd  of  cobalt  thus  prepared  is  known  in  commerce.  Cobalt 
and  nickel  are  found  at  several  places  in  the  United  States,  and  specimens  from 
Connecticut  and  Maryland  are  in  the  present  Exhibition,  (Nos.  23  and  135, 
class  I.) 

The  admixture  of  the  primary  colors  just  enumerated  gives  to  the  glass-maker 
the  power  of  producing  an  almost  endless  variety  of  tints.  The  effect  of  opal- 
escence is  gained  by  the  use  of  arsenic,  of  oxyd  of  tin  and  alumina  j  and  bone  earth 
(phosphate  of  lime)  is  added  to  produce  opacity  or  milkiness.  Black  is  usually 
produced  by  using  some  coloring  matter  in  excess;  not  being  a  color,  but  only  its 
absence,  black  is  inconsistent  with  transparency. 

Enamels  are  formed  by  the  use  of  the  colors  already  named,  with  a  lead  glass 

151 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


rendered  opaque  cither  by  oxyd  of  tin  or  antimony,  and  60  fusible  as  to  be  easily 
managed  by  the  heat  of  a  table  lamp. 

The  manufacture  of  glass  is  divided  into  a  great  number  of  distinct  branches, 
founded  on  differences  of  composition  and  of  use,  from  which  is  derived  the  follow- 
ing classification  : 

A.  'Window  glass,  including  sheet  glass,  crown  glass,  and  colored  sheet  glass. 
This  glass  is  composed  of  silica,  soda  or  potash,  lime,  and  alumina. 

B.  Painted  and  other  kinds  of  ornamental  window  glass.    Composition  much 
tho  same  as  section  A. 

C.  Plate  glass,  whether  cast,  pressed,  or  rolled.  Composed  of  silica,  soda  or 
potash,  lime,  and  a  little  alumina ;  and  differs  from  section  A  only  in  the  greater 
purity  and  colorlessness  of  the  materials  employed. 

D.  Bottle  glass,  including, 

a.  Ordinary  bottle  glass,  consisting  of  silica,  potash  or  soda,  alumina,  and  oxyd 
of  iron. 

b.  Medicinal  bottle  glass,  composed  of  silica,  potash,  lime,  some  alumina,  and  a 
trace  of  protoxyd  of  iron. 

c.  White  bottle  glass  (in  a  limited  sense,)  for  bottles,  tumblers,  tubes,  and 
chemical  glass,  &c,  and  composed  of  silica,  soda  or  potash,  and  lime,  very 
infusible. 

E.  Flint  glass,  or  crystal,  usually  composed  of  silica,  potash,  and  oxyd  of  lead  ; 
and  used  for  ornamental  table  glasses,  chandeliers,  lamps,  beads,  Venetian  glass 
■weights,  aventurine,  glass  mosaic,  and  when  peculiarly  pure,  for  the  basis  of  imi- 
tative gems. 

F.  Optical  glass,  both  flint  and  crown,  the  former  composed  of  silica,  or  bora- 
cic  acid,  potash,  and  more  lead  than  is  usual  in  flint  glass ;  the  latter  composed  of 
silica,  or  boracic  acid,  potash  or  soda  and  lime,  these  materials  being  of  the  great- 
est purity. 

The  limited  use  of  glass  for  windows  both  from  its  greater  rarity  and  cost 
in  olden  times  has  been  already  alluded  to.  Sheets  of  transparent  gypsum, 
and  plates  of  mica,  have  been  used  for  windows  in  countries  where  these 
minerals  are  found  in  pieces  of  sufficient  size.  It  appears  that  as  late  as  the  close 
of  the  17th  century,  common  houses  in  Great  Britain  were  unprovided  with  glass, 
and  even  in  the  palaces  of  nobles  it  was  regarded  as  an  article  of  splendid  luxury. 
The  venerable  Bede,  in  his  history  of  the  planting  of  the  church  in  Britain,  gives 
a  particular  account  of  the  ornamental  glazing  with  painted  glass  of  the  churches 
and  monastic  houses  of  Yarrow  and  Wearmouth,  by  artists  whom  the  Abbot 
Benedict  brought  over  from  Italy  for  that  purpose  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century  (see  Howitt's  Visits  to  remarkable  Places,  article  Bede).  This 
is  probably  as  early  as  this  art  was  practised  in  any  part  of  Europe. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  the  diamond  was  first  employed  to  cut  glass,  and 
this  circumstance  has  probably  exercised  a  controlling  influence  upon  the  general 
use  of  glass  for  architectural  purposes.  Indeed,  it  is  hard  for  us  to  imagine  how 
the  manufacture  and  use  of  window  glass  could  be  carried  on  at  all  without  the 
diamond  to  cut  it  with  ease  and  certainty  to  a  required  size. 

Window  glass  is  chiefly  of  two  sorts,  named,  in  allusion  to  the  mechanical 
processes  employed  in  their  manufacture,  viz.,  1.  Sheet-glass  formed  by  the  flat- 
tening of  blown  cylinders,  and  2.  Crown-glass,  formed  from  a  blown  sphere  by  the 
effect  of  centrifugal  force. 

Before  describing  these  two  processes  and  their  results,  let  us  briefly  advert 
to  a  few  facts,  familiar  to  all  who  are  acquainted  even  slightly  with  the  pro- 
cesses of  the  glass  house,  but  which  may  not  be  so  generally  known  as  to  ren- 
der some  allusion  to  them  unimportant.  The  materials  of  which  glass  is  formed 
are  mingled  in  weighed  quantities,  and  in  a  dry  state,  upon  a  floor  prepared  for  the 
purpose.  The  melting  pots,  which  are  designed  to  hold  from  500  to  2000  pounds 
of  materials,  are  formed  of  the  most  refractory  fire  clay,  to  which  is  added  a  cer- 
tain quantity  of  the  pulverized  fragments  of  old  pots.  They  are  fashioned  with 
the  greatest  care,  tho  clay  being  tempered  for  months,  and  have  the  form  of  a 
cylinder  or  frustum  of  a  cone.  Several  of  these  pots  are  set  in  a  circular  fur- 
nace heated  by  wood  or  bituminous  coal,  and  sustained  on  strong  flat  arches. 
Tho  opening  of  each  pot  is  directed  outwards  for  convenience  of  charging  the 
raw  material,  observing  the  progress  of  the  fusion,  and  withdrawing  the  product. 
It  is  also  important  that  the  products  of  combustion,  and  the  smoke  of  the  fire 
should  have  no  access  to  the  materials  in  the  pots,  hence  their  tops  are  arched,  and 
the  fire  plays  only  on  their  exterior.  The  heat  is  raised  until  the  pots  are  fully  red 
hot  before  the  charge  of  weighed  materials  is  introduced.  This  is  accomplished 
in  several  small  portions  added  successively,  an  interval  being  allowed  after  each 
addition  for  the  mass  to  become  fully  heated  before  another  is  made.  The  chemical 
action  of  the  materials  upon  each  other  under  the  influence  of  heat  is  very  simple. 
The  alkali  employed  is  almost  always  in  the  form  of  carbonate  of  soda  or  carbonate 
of  potash.  Silica  has  the  property  at  a  high  temperature  of  acting  the  part  of  a 
powerful  acid,  and  when  the  proper  degree  of  heat  is  attained  it  drives  out  the 
carbonic  acid  before  combined  with  the  alkali,  while  the  silica  and  alkali  unite  to 
form  a  salt  (glass).  This  action  is  by  no  means  soon  over.  The  viscid  mass 
lias  so  pasty  a  consistence  at  first,  that  tho  expelled  carbonic  acid  escapes  very 
nlowly,  filling  the  whole  mass  of  materials  with  numberless  cavities  and  air 

152 


cells,  so  that  even  at  the  end  of  24  hours  the  glass  in  the  pot  resembles  rather  a  loaf 
of  light  bread  than  the  transparent  material  we  are  wont  to  see.  When  the  mate- 
rials are  incautiously  added,  or  the  heat  raised  too  suddenly,  this  escape  of  carbonio 
acid  sometimes  occasions  the  frothing  over  of  the  pot.  From  time  to  time  the 
workman  withdraws  a  portion  of  the  glass  upon  the  end  of  his  iron  blow  pipe 
rod,  and  fashions  it  into  some  form  from  which  he  can  judge  of  the  progress  of 
the  fusion.  The  glass  blower  always  speaks  of  the  melted  glass  as  "  metal."  The 
tools  which  are  used  to  fashion  glass  are  of  wonderful  simplicity,  the  art  of  glass 
blowing  being  chiefly  one  of  manual  dexterity.  The  blow  pipe,  a  hollow  rod  of 
iron,  protected  by  a  wooden  covering  over  part  of  its  length,  a  pair  of  rude  scis- 
sors, with  a  spring  back  like  the  sheep  shearing  scissors,  a  knife,  a  flat  surface  of 
iron  (the  marver)  on  which  to  roll  the  molten  glass,  and  a  solid  rod  of  iron  (the 
punty  rod  or  pontil).  are  the  chief  implements  required  by  the  glass  blowers.  Of 
moulds,  now  so  much  used  to  fashion  vessels  of  all  sorts  in  flint  glass,  we  shall  speak 
more  particularly  by  and  by. 

When  by  trial  the  metal  is  found  to  be  sufficiently  refined,  the  heat  is  some- 
what reduced  to  permit  the  glass  to  assume  that  pasty  consistence,  resembling 
thick  honey,  which  is  essential  to  enable  the  blower  to  manage  it  with  ease.  We 
we  will  suppose  that  sheet  glass  for  windows  is  the  object  to  be  formed,  and  that 
of  the  best  quality,  perfectly  white.  The  materials  that  have  been  found  best 
fitted  for  this  purpose  are  100  lbs.  sand,  52£  lbs.  of  purified  potashes,  14J-  lbs.  of 
chalk,  £  lb.  of  peroxyd  of  manganese,  and  125  lbs.  of  broken  glass  of  a  former  oper- 
ation. The  lime  is  required  to  prevent  the  glass  from  corroding  when  exposed  to 
the  atmosphere.  The  most  colorless  window  glass  when  seen  edgeways  has 
always  a  yellowish  tinge. 

The  workman  now  introduces  his  pipe  into  the  pot  of  metal,  and  collects  a 
sufficient  quantity  to  form  the  cyliuder  he  is  about  to  blow.  The  ponderous  globe 
of  solid  glass  thus  withdrawn  is  rounded  on  the  marver,  and  pushed  forward  on 
the  rod  by  means  of  a  knife,  so  as  to  be  attached  to  it  by  a  grooved  neck.  He  is 
aided  in  this  process  by  placing  the  glowing  mass  in  a  globular  or  pear-shaped 
cavity  in  a  block  of  wood  kept  moist  by  water.  The  mass,  reheated  at  the  fur- 
nace, is  now  inflated  until  a  considerable  cavity  is  formed,  and  the  mass  has  a  pear 
shape.  By  a  rapid  motion  the  workman  next  raises  the  mass  over  his  head,  still 
inflating  it.  Gravity  causes  the  plastic  metal  to  assume  a  flattened  form,  and  the 
pressure  of  inflation,  which  now  distends  the  sides  only,  is  continued  until  the 
diameter  of  the  flattened  bottle  is  equal  to  that  of  the  intended  cylinder.  Another 
rapid  downward  movement  lengthens  the  heated  and  now  pendulous  mass  with- 
out diminishing  its  diameter,  and  now  the  workman  swings  his  pipe  from  side  to 
side  like  a  bell  clapper,  inflating  from  time  to  time,  until  under  the  united  influ- 
ence of  gravity,  inflation,  and  incessant  motion,  a  perfect  cylinder  is  formed. 
Often  it  is  requisite  in  the  course  of  these  operations  to  reheat  the  glass  several 
times,  but  sometimes  an  adroit  workman  will  carry  forward  the  operation  to  its 
present  stage  at  one  heat.  Next  he  presents  the  end  of  the  newly  formed  ves- 
sel to  the  fire,  resting  it  in  a  crotch,  on  which  he  can  revolve  the  work  before 
the  flame.  A  strong  blast,  or  even  the  expansion  of  the  air  imprisoned  by  the 
thumb  closing  the  opening  of  the  pipe,  will  occasion  the  heated  end  to  puff  out,  and 
thus  to  form  an  irregular  opening.  The  cylinder  thus  opened,  the  aperture  is  made 
regular  by  an  assistant  who  cuts  the  ragged  edges  with  scissors,  while  the  work- 
man fashions  the  still  pliant  glass  with  the  edge  of  his  scissors,  revolving  it  all  the 
time  into  a  perfectly  symmetrical  form.  The  blow  pipe  and  its  attached  cylin- 
der is  then  revolved  adroitly  over  his  head,  and  with  great  speed  through  an  en- 
tire circle  several  times,  by  which  it  is  cooled  before  it  loses  its  regular  form. 
The  application  of  a  thread  of  red-hot  glass  to  the  cooled  surface  of  the  cylinder 
near  the  end  of  the  blow-pipe,  occasions  a  neat  separation  of  the  parts  by  cracking. 
We  have  now  a  cylinder  of  glass  open  at  both  ends,  uniformly  thick,  and  of  a 
fine  lustre.  Good  specimens  of  these  may  be  seen  in  the  Holland  Court  of  the 
Exhibition,  Class  24,  No.  2.  It  now  remains  to  open  the  cylinder  and  flatten  it 
into  a  square  sheet.  For  this  purpose  it  must  be  carefully  reheated  in  a  furnace 
of  peculiar  construction.  At  the  moment  when  the  cylinder  has  been  brought  to 
the  proper  temperature,  it  is  opened  lengthwise  by  applying  a  drop  of  water 
or  by  a  cold  iron,  and  the  workman  adroitly  opens  the  cyliuder,  and  spreads  it 
upon  a  hard  table,  by  gently  pressing  against  its  sides  with  a  rule.  The  surface  of 
the  pliant  glass  is  then  flattened  with  a  polisher  of  iron  or  wood,  and  the  sheet  is 
passed  into  another  chamber  where  it  is  slowly  cooled  and  tempered. 

Such  is  a  brief  account  of  the  method  of  blowing  cylinder,  spread,  sheet,  or 
broad  glass,  for  it  has  all  these  names.  It  is  afterwards  cut  up  by  the  diamond 
into  any  required  sizes.  This  sort  of  glass  is  recommended  by  its  cheapness  and 
uniform  thickness,  &c.  As  the  process  is  now  conducted  it  is  equal  to  any  blown 
glass.  When  carelessly  made,  however,  it  has  a  very  wavy,  uneven  surface,  and 
a  deficiency  of  lustre. 

We  have  dwelt  with  more  particularity  on  the  steps  of  this  process,  as  they 
are  essentially  the  same  with  the  operation  of  blowing  vessels  of  every  sort. 
Thus  the  cylinder  of  glass  in  its  various  stages  of  progress  represents  a  variety  of 
vessels,  and  should  the  operator  stop  at  one  of  them  he  would  form  a  bot- 
tle, at  another  stage  a  chemical  vessel  or  air  bell ;  and  it  is  only  the  last  operation 
of  opening  the  cylinder  which  distinguishes  it  from  the  usual  glass  blowing  pro- 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


cesses.  The  shades  so  much  in  use  for  covering  clocks  and  small  articles  of  vertu, 
are  made  by  the  cylinder  process  of  blowing. 

Crown  Glass. — As  gravity  and  inflation  are  the  simple  means  by  which  cylin- 
der glass  is  blown,  so  in  crown  glass  resort  is  had  to  the  effect  of  centrifugal  force 
to  produce  a  wheel  of  glass  out  of  a  globe  previously  formed  by  inflation  and  gra- 
vity. The  metal  employed  for  crown  glass  may  be  the  same  already  described,  or 
any  other  hard  glass  material.  The  workman  gathers  the  glass  upon  his  pipe 
with  the  same  precautions  which  are  adopted  when  cylinder  glass  is  to  be  blown, 
but  he  proceeds  to  blow  a  sphere  or  hollow  globe,  with  walls  as  evenly  thick 
as  possible.  The  furnace  before  which  he  operates  has  a  circular  opening 
called  the  glory  hole,  from  which  a  powerful  radiation  and  flame  pro- 
ceed. This  fire  is  fed  by  powdered  rosin  thrown  in  from  time  to  time  in  small 
doses  by  a  boy  stationed  near  by.  The  globe  being  formed  is  brought  before 
this  hole  and  rapidly  revolved  on  a  crotch  conveniently  set  for  the  purpose. 
An  opening  is  made  in  the  apex  opposite  to  the  point  of  attachment,  as  in  cylin- 
der blowing,  but  the  process  afterward  is  entirely  different.  By  the  exposure  to 
the  flame  of  the  glory  hole,  the  revolving  and  now  opened  sphere,  becomes  flat- 
tened at  the  pole  by  centrifugal  force;  the  opening,  at  first  small,  gradually  en- 
larges ;  and  the  whole  vessel  flattens  under  the  rapid  revolution  of  the  pipe,  the 
workman  approaches  the  flattened  surface  nearer  and  nearer  the  flame,  the  open- 
ing still  widens,  the  original  globular  form  is  exchanged  for  that  of  a  flat  vessel 
with  contracted  edges;  the  heat  and  revolution  are  now  at  a  maximum,  when  sud- 
denly the  whole  mass,  flashes  into  a  regular  wheel,  nearly  six  feet  in  diameter,  of 
which  the  pipe  is  the  nave.  Hence  this  process  is  technically  termed  "  flashing." 
The  wheel  still  glowing  with  fervid  redness  would  at  once  collapse  and  fall  into  a 
useless  mass  if  the  revolution  was  suddenly  checked  ;  hence  the  workman  gradu- 
ally withdraws  it  from  the  tire,  which  is  also  reduced  in  fierceness  until  the  glass 
has  become  cool  enough  to  retain  its  form.  It  is  then  detached  from  the  pipe 
by  the  touch  of  a  cold  iron  at  the  point  of  contact,  and  the  wheel  still  very  hot  is 
passed  into  an  oven  called  an  annealing  kiln,  where  it  cools  very  slowly,  in  order 
to  temper  the  glass  and  render  it  tough.  The  wheels  thus  formed  are  never 
quite  flat,  but  are  always  a  little  arched,  or  crowning  from  the  edges  to  the 
centre.  Hence  the  term  crown  glass.  If  the  process  has  been  skillfully  per- 
formed, the  sheets  cut  from  the  wheel  are  remarkably  uniform  in  thickness,  but 
there  is  always  a  bulge  at  the  centre  called  the  "bull's  eye,"  and  this  limits  the 
size  of  crown  glass  to  about  36  inches  in  its  largest  dimension. 

The  lustre  of  crown  glass  is  always  superior  to  that  of  cylinder  glass,  which  is 
owing  to  its  being  exposed  to  the  high  temperature  of  the  flame  during  the  flashing, 
and  also  to  the  fact  that  it  is  completed,  so  to  speak,  at  one  operation,  while  cylinder 
glass  is  several  times  cooled  and  reheated,  a  process  which  tends  to  devitrifica- 
tion, and  would  if  often  repeated  render  glass  nearly  opaque  like  porcelain. 

Colored  sheet  glass  for  church  windows,  &c,  is  rarely  colored  in  the  pot,  but 
a  good  quantity  of  hard  glass  is  selected  and  colored  of  the  desired  tint  by  one 
of  two  processes.  The  first  consists  in  dipping  the  pipe  into  a  crucible  of  molten 
glass  of  the  desired  color,  and  gathering  a  small  quantity  on  the  end ;  it  is  then 
dipped  into  the  pot  of  hohl  glass,  and  the  requisite  quantity  for  the  cylinder  oper- 
ation accumulated  as  usual.  The  process  of  blowing  already  described,  must,  as 
will  be  easily  understood,  result  in  spreading  the  colored  glass  all  over  the  extend- 
ed surface  of  the  cylinder  in  a  thin  film,  like  a  transparent  veneer.  This  is  the 
nsual  process  on  the  large  scale,  and  is  the  mode  before  alluded  to  as  practised 
in  giving  the  Bohemian  ruby  to  vessels  of  that  color. 

The  other  process  employs  the  enamelling  furnace  in  which  the  glass  to  be 
colored  is  heated  until  a  fusible  paste,  with  which  its  surface  has  been  previously 
covered,  is  melted  and  flows  over,  adhering  to  the  glass,  and  acquiring  at  the  same 
time  the  desired  color  from  the  mineral  oxyds  which  had  been  added  to  the  paste. 
That  paste  is  always  of  fusible  lead  glass,  ground  to  a  fine  powder  and  laid  on  the 
glass  surijace  with  a  brush  and  water.  This  last  process  is  employed  to  produce 
painted  glass,  on  which  it  is  designed  to  show  more  than  one  color  or  tint. 

Cast  Plate  Glass. — Plate  glass  is  made  by  a  process  entirely  distinct  from  those 
employed  in  producing  window  glass.  So  far  as  we  are  informed,  this  division 
of  the  glass  manufacture  has  not  been  as  yet  established  in  the  United  States; 
nor  is  it  by  any  means  a  common  branch  of  the  business  in  the  Old  World,  where 
:f  is  comparatively  a  modern  art.  Abraham  Thevart  is  regarded  as  the  origina- 
tor oi  •'•e  idea  of  casting  the  molten  glass  from  the  fusion  pots  upon  a  table  of  metal. 
This  was  ai  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  (1688)  and  the  St.  Gobian 
establishment,  still  so  celebrated  for  its  plate  glass,  was  founded  by  him.  The 
Venetian  plates  were  ground  down  from  blown  glass  preparatory  to  silvering,  a 
process  still  in  use  for  cheap  mirrors.  In  England  the  first  company,  "  The 
British  Plate  Glass  Company,"  was  established  in  Lancashire  as  late  as  1773;  al- 
though the  second  Duke  of  Buckingham,  who  imported  his  workmen  from  Venice, 
had  previously  met  with  much  success  in  making  plate  glass  for  mirrors  and  coach 
windows  at  Lambeth. 

Plate  glass  is  a  soda  lime  glass,  soda  being  preferred  because  of  the  much 
greater  fluidity  which  it  gives  to  the  molten  metal.  The  proportion  of  materials 
used  at  St.  Gobian  are  100  parts  of  pure  sand,  35  pure  carbonate  of  soda,  5  of 
air-slaked  lime,  100  of  cullet  or  broken  glass,  and  such  decolorizing  materials 


(ox.  manganese)  as  are  needed.  The  furnace  employed  is  peculiar,  it  being  ne- 
cessary to  ladle  out  the  melted  glass  from  the  fusion  pots  into  quadrangular  cis- 
terns called  cuvettes,  formed  of  the  most  refractory  fire-clay.  The  materials  are 
fused  in  the  circular  pot  in  about  16  hours,  and  the  metal  is  then  carefully 
skimmed  with  a  copper  blade,  taken  out  in  copper  ladles,  and  turned  into  the 
cuvette.  Care  is  taken  not  to  disturb  the  unfused  particles  of  sand  and  various 
impurites  which  have  settled  at  the  bottom  of  the  pot.  In  the  cuvette  the  glass 
remains  24  or  even  48  hours,  until  it  is  perfectly  fined  ;  the  heat  is  then  somewhat 
abated  for  three  or  four  hours,  that  the  glass  may  fall  to  the  proper  temperature 
for  casting.  Preparatory  to  this,  one  of  the  movable  walls  of  the  furnace  is  taken 
down,  and  a  pair  of  strong  quadrangular  tongs  are  attached  to  the  cuvette,  and 
by  their  aid  the  glass  is  poured  out  upon  the  casting  table.  This  table  is  of  cast 
iron  10  or  15  feet  long,  half  that  breadth,  and  6  or  7  inches  thick  to  prevent  its 
warping  when  heated  on  one  side.  The  surface  of  the  bed-plate  is  first  heated  by 
hot  coals,  so  as  not  to  chill  the  melted  glass  too  suddenly,  and  while  one  set  of 
workmen  are  again  preparing  this  surface  quite  clean,  another  set  have  removed 
the  cuvette  and  hung  it  in  a  crane.  Being  brought  into  this  position,  its  contents 
are  turned  out  in  a  fiery  cascade,  which  is  kept  within  certain  bounds  upon  the 
table  by  iron  guides,  while,  at  the  same  time,  a  heavy  iron  cylinder  is  drawn  for- 
ward on  its  axis,  and  pressing  upon  the  molten  surface,  produces  a  plate  of  uni- 
form thickness  and  solidity.  The  lower  surface  in  contact  with  the  bed  is  not  so 
smooth,  but  is  more  accurately  level  than  the  upper  surface.  In  five  minutes 
from  the  time  when  the  cuvette  left  the  furnace,  the  cast  plate  is  slid  off  from 
its  bed  by  a  proper  tool  into  the  annealing  arch,  where  it  rests  on  a  bed  of  sand 
for  12  or  14  days  before  it  is  considered  safe  to  remove  it.  Next  comes  the  la- 
borious process  of  grinding  after  a  selection  has  been  made  of  those  plates  which 
are  judged  to  be  most  perfect.  This  is  accomplished  by  coarse  sand  and  water 
strewn  over  the  upper  surface  of  the  plate,  the  lower  being  firmly  bedded  in 
plaster  of  paris.  A  smaller  plate  of  glass  attached  to  a  stone,  and  heavily  weight- 
ed, forms  the  muller,  and  this  is  moved  either  by  machinery  or  by  hand.  After 
the  coarse  sand  has  reduced  the  surface  to  one  plane,  emery  in  different  grades  is 
employed  to  make  the  plane  surface  smooth,  and  finally  the  polish  is  given  by 
red  oxyd  of  iron  (colcothar  or  rouge)  applied  on  cloth  backed  by  wood.  Now, 
when  it  is  remembered  that  7  grades  of  sand,  and  15  of  emery  are  used,  besides  the 
colcothar,  and  that  this  series  of  processes  is  to  be  repeated  for  each  side  of 
the  plate,  it  will  readily  be  understood  that  the  preparation  of  large  mirror 
plates  must  be  a  very  costly  and  time-consuming  affair.  Moreover,  it  is  only 
after  the  fine  grinding  that  the  blemishes  in  the  substance  of  the  glass  appear 
(air  bubbles  and  discolorations),  requiring  the  plates  to  be  cut  into  smaller  ones 
to  save  them  from  total  loss ;  and  added  to  all  other  sources  of  cost  is  the 
danger  of  fracture  in  such  repeated  handlings  and  so  many  mechanical  opera- 
tions. There  is  need,  too,  of  the  most  scrupulous  care  in  the  choice  and  compound- 
ing of  the  original  materials  as  well  as  in  the  casting,  that  blemishes  of  color,  and 
irregularities  in  the  inherent  structure  of  the  glass,  or  stria;,  may  be  avoided ;  since 
the  first  and  last  requisite  of  a  perfect  mirror  is  the  power  of  rendering  an  exact 
reflection,  both  in  color  and  form,  of  the  objects  before  it.  The  same  care  is 
therefore  needed  in  the  manufacture  of  this  description  of  glass  as  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  glass  for  optical  purposes.  It  is  not  wonderful,  then,  that  large  mirror 
plates  should  be  very  costly,  nor  that  a  heavy  capital  should  be  required  to  con- 
duct the  manufacture  with  advantage. 

We  trace  the  history  of  our  modern  silvered  mirrors  (i.  e.  tin  amalgam)  to 
Venice,  where  they  were  produced  by  the  present  process  in  the  16th  century. 
The  ancients  employed  small  metallic  mirrors,  highly  polished,  the  form  and  con- 
struction of  which  we  see  perfectly  in  the  specimens  from  Pompeii  preserved  in 
the  Museo  Borbonico,  at  Naples.  The  process  of  "  silvering  "  glass  mirrors  is 
very  simple.  The  sheet  of  tin  foil,  somewhat  larger  than  the  mirror,  is  laid  upon 
a  smooth  table,  and  quicksilver  poured  over  it  until  it  covers  the  tin  foil  with  a 
thickness  of  one-tenth  of  an  inch  or  more  ;  when  the  mercury  has  been  swept  by 
the  edge  of  a  stick  to  clean  oft' the  drops  from  its  surface,  the  glass  plate  scrupulously 
clean  is  brought  even  with  the  edge  of  the  table,  and  pushed  gently  forward  side- 
ways, so  as  to  slide  over  the  bath  of  mercury,  its  edge  just  dipping  beneath  its 
surface,  so  as  to  push  before  it  all  impurities,  and  to  exclude  all  air  bubbles. 
Weights  are  then  evenly  applied  over  the  back  of  the  mirror,  and  the  whole  table 

inclined  to  such  an  angle  as  to  favor  the  drawing  off  of  the  superfluo  '"renry. 

This  requires  some  days  or  weeks,  according  to  the  size  of  the  plate,  Jj.v»«. 
additional  risk  and  cause  of  cost  in  large  mirrors,  since  the  time  consumed  is  not 
small,  and  the  danger  of  fracture  imminent.  The  amalgam  sometimes  crystal- 
lizes, producing  imperfections  which  require  the  renewal  of  the  whole  process, 
and  the  health  of  those  engaged  in  it  also  suffers,  and  is  finally  destroyed  by  mer- 
curial salivation. 

Sihered  Globes. — It  must  have  attracted  the  attention  of  the  most  casual  ob- 
server, that  within  the  last  few  years  spheres  of  glass,  sometimes  of  large  dimen- 
sions, have  appeared  in  our  shops,  brilliantly  lined  with  a  silver  coating.  These 
globes  obviously  cannot  be  covered  on  their  interior  by  the  amalgamative  process 
just  described  for  mirrors,  and  the  reflecting  surface  is  really  what  it  seems  to  be, 
a  film  of  metallic  silver.    This  is  put  on  by  an  extremely  simple  process,  known 


.     THE   INDUSTRY    OF   ALL  NATIONS. 


as  Drayton's  process.  The  silvering  fluid  is  composed  of  one  ounce  of  nitrate 
of  silver,  three  ounces  of  alcohol  of  87  per  cent.,  and  20  or  30  drops  of  oil 
of  cassia.  Metallic  silver  is  deposited  from  this  fluid  upon  the  addition  of  a 
reducing  liquid  composed  of  one  part  of  oil  of  cloves  dipped  in  three  parts  of 
alcohol.  The  silver  begins  immediately  to  bo  thrown  down,  but  the  experiment 
succeeds  best  when  the  process  goes  on  slowly,  and  from  the  addition  of  a  few 
drops  (say  six  or  eight  drops)  of  the  reducing  fluid,  which  suffice  to  precipitate 
the  silver  of  4^  oz.  of  solution.  The  film  of  silver  does  not  exceed  15  or  20 
grains  in  weight  for  a  foot  of  surface.  Flat  mirrors  can  be  thus  silvered  as  well 
as  globular  vessels,  and  the  cost  of  silver  upon  a  mirror  5  feet  by  10  would  not 
exceed  two  and  a  half  dollars.  There  are,  however,  it  is  said,  practical  difficulties 
in  the  ways  of  employing  this  process  on  a  large  scale,  but  for  the  silvering  of 
the  interior  of  glass  vessels  it  is  invaluable.  The  precipitation  of  the  silver  in 
this  process  is  due  to  the  deoxydizing  influence  of  the  volatile  oil,  and  many  other 
organic  compounds  possess  the  same  jtower  over  the  oxyd  of  silver. 

Bottle  Glass  is  extremely  various  in  its  composition,  since  these  vessels  maybe 
blown  from  any  description  of  metal.  For  wine  bottles  cheapness  and  strength 
are  the  great  requisites,  and  as  color  is  of  no  moment  in  this  case,  materials  wholly 
unfit  for  otber  uses  may  be  employed.  Thus  black  bottles  are  made  of  100  parts 
of  sand,  20  lbs.  dry  glauber's  salts  (sulphate  of  soda),  18  soap  boiler's  waste,  200  of 
refuse  glass,  and  45  of  basalt.  For  ordinary  green  glass  bottles,  100  parts  sand, 
72  of  lime,  and  280  of  lixiviated  wood  ashes.  Champagne  bottles  require  100  ports 
sand,  200  feldspar,  20  lime,  15  common  salt,  and  125  slag  from  the  iron  furnace.* 
White  bottles  for  medical  and  chemical  use  are  blown  from  any  good  quality  of  hard 
glass,  but  those  for  chemical  use  should  contain  neither  lead  nor  arsenic,  and  no 
more  alkali  than  is  requisite  for  fusion.  Insolubility  and  power  to  resist  chemi- 
cal action,  are  indispensable  qualities  in  chemical  vessels.  No  glass  is  absolutely 
insoluble,  as  even  the  hardest  Bohemian  white  glass  (a  lime-potash  glass),  when 
pulverized  and  moistened  with  water  always  yields  an  alkaline  reaction  to  test 
papers.  Tubes  of  glass  for  chemical  use  when  intended  to  resist  a  high  tempera- 
ture, as  in  organic  analysis,  are  formed  of  the  most  refractory  metal,  such  as  has 
been  made  in  perfection  only  in  Bohemia  and  some  other  Austrian  provinces. 
This  glass  is  composed  of  silica  73,  potash  113,  soda  3,  lime  105,  alumina,  &c, 
2=100.  The  usual  glass  for  chemical  use  is  formed  from  100  lbs.  white  sand, 
41.4  potashes,  and  17.5  of  lime.  Glass  of  this  composition  is  not  easily  fused,  and 
is  more  difficult  to  work  than  that  which  contains  more  alkali.  In  comparing 
the  composition  of  the  coarser  sorts  of  bottle  glass,  one  is  struck  with  the  resem- 
blance, between  them  and  some  other  natural  products,  like  obsidian  and  lava, 
which  are  fusible  silicates  of  alumina  and  iron,  with  variable  proportions  of 
lime,  magnesia,  and  the  alkalies.  We  may  in  fact  regard  these  volcanic  products 
as  nature's  glass.* 

Flint  Glass  or  Crystal. — Some  confusion  exists  in  the  use  of  these  terms,  ow- 
ing to  the  fact  that  flint  glass  is  a  term  usually  restricted  to  that  description  of 
glass  of  which  oxyd  of  lead  forms  an  important  constituent.  This .  is  not, 
however,  strictly  true,  as  the  Bohemian  flint  glass  contains  no  lead  at  all.  We 
may  define  flint  or  crystal  glass  to  be  that  description  of  glass  which  is  fitted 
from  its  comparative  softness  for  easy  grinding  or  cutting  on  the  polishing 
wheel,  and  which  also  has  a  high  refracting  power,  and  is  thereby  best  adapted 
for  articles  of  beauty  and  luxury,  in  which  brilliancy  of  lustre  is  desired.  It 
was  remarked  at  the  opening  of  this  essay  that  the  oxyd  of  lead  had  a  most  re- 
markable power  of  dissolving  silica,  and  that  the  glass  formed  by  it  was  distin- 
guished by  its  brilliancy,  easy  fusibility,  and  weight.  The  use  of  oxyd  of  lead  in 
this  art  was  first  resorted  to  in  England  in  the  16th  century,  as  an  expedient  to 
procure  a  more  easily  fusible  glass,  in  order  to  avoid  the  waste  of  fuel  required  to 
heat  close  or  arched  pots  to  the  proper  temperature  by  means  of  coal,  the  only- 
fuel  available  in  England,  and  one  incompatible  with  the  use  of  open  pots.  It  was 
soon  discovered  that  the  lead  was  not  only  an  excellent  flux,  but  that  the  glass 
made  by  it  had  superior  beauty  from  its  high  refracting  powers.  Subsequently  the 
use  of  lead  was  adopted  in  France,  but  in  Bohemia  and  Venice  they  still  make 
crystal  glass  without  its  use. 

The  Bohemian  crystal  for  grindingis  composed  of  100  parts  white  sand,  00  pure 
potashes,  8  chalk,  40  broken  glass,  and  If  manganese.  The  English  flint  glass  is 
composed  of  sand,  minium,  and  potashes,  all  pure  as  possible  in  the  proportions 
of  about  3,  2, 1.  In  addition  manganese  or  arsenic  is  used  as  a  decolorizing  material ; 
if  the  former  is  selected,  care  is  taken  that  it  is  pure,  and  especially  that  it  is  free 
from  iron.  Minium,  or  red  lead,  (Pb  02)  in  the  process  of  fusion  parts  with  one 
atom  of  oxygen  to  form  that  oxyd  (Pb  O),  which  unites  with  the  silica,  and  this 
liberated  oxygen  acts  to  decolorize  the  glass.  With  the  same  object  a  part  of  the 
carbonate  of  potash  may  be  advantageously  replaced  by  its  equivalent  of  nitrate 
of  potash  (saltpetre),  which  acts  favorably  by  the  large  volume  of  oxygen  it  parts 


•  We  may  mention  here  the  specimens  of  "  Lava  Ware,"  manufactured  from  the  slass  of  iron  reduc- 
ing furnaces,  exhibited  \>y  Dr.  Win.  A.  8in|th,  of  Philadelphia,  l'enn.,  (U.  8.  Class  27,  No.  19).  Dr. 
Smith  claims  that  he  has  found  Important  uses  for  the  slass  of  the  iron  furnaces  which  have  here, 
tofore  been  waste  prod  n  ets.  He  exhibits  black  bottles,  tiles  and  square  slabs  moulded  from  this  material, 
which,  as  we  understand,  Is  -ubject  to  a  second  fusion,  although  It  ispcihaps  possible  to  work  It  from  the 
original  heat  of  the  furuu-e. 

164 


with  at  a  high  temperature.  More  silica  can  be  used  with  wood  fuel  than  with 
coal.    Thus  the  composition  of  flint  glass  is  stated : 

With  coal  as  fuel.  With  wood  as  fuel. 

Sand  washed  and  calcined,      100  lbs.  100  lbs. 

Minium  (oxyd  lead),  70  "  45  « 

Purified  Potashes,  30  "  35  » 

Cullet,  or  broken  glass. 
The  fusion  of  these  materials  occupies  six  or  eight  hours,  and  the  fining  as 
much  more,  during  which  the  glass  must  be  protected  from  the  smoke  and  pro- 
ducts of  combustion,  the  action  of  which  would  reduce  the  oxyd  of  lead  to  me- 
tallic lead,  and  so  blacken  the  product.  Eight  crucibles  or  pots  are  usually  set  in 
one  large  circular  furnace  all  heated  by  one  fire,  which  is  conducted  by  the  flues  so 
as  to  surround  the  pots  on  all  sides.  In  England  and  the  United  States  it  is  usual 
to  commence  the  found  or  fusion  of  the  materials  on  Friday  night,  and  to  leave  the 
metal  until  Monday  morning  before  commencing  work,  during  which  time  it  be- 
comes perfectly  fined.  It  is  in  this  department  of  glass  manufacture  that  more 
progress  has  been  made  than  in  any  other  in  the  United  States,  and  the  best  results 
obtained.  The  Brooklyn  Flint  Glass  Co.  (Class  24,  No.  1,  U.  S.),  and  the  New 
England  Glass  Co.,  Boston  (Class  24,  No.  4,  U.  S.),  are  the  largest  manufacturers, 
and  their  display  in  the  present  Exhibition  of  dioptric  lenses,  and  signal  lamps, 
and  of  plain,  pressed,  cut,  and  decorated  glassware,  is  decidedly  creditable  to  this 
country.  The  American  flint  glass  is  distinguished  by  its  brilliancy  and  the  purity 
of  its  color,  and  that  of  the  New  England  Co.,  is  the  best  pressed  glass  probably 
ever  manufactured.  The  composition  of  the  New  England  Glass  Company's 
wares  is  as  follows : 

Best  colorless  sand,    ...  300 

Minium,       ....  200 

Refined  Pearlash,     ...  100 

Cullet  and  manganese,  or  arsenic. 
When  requisite,  a  part  of  the  pearlash  is  replaced  by  nitre.  The  art  of  mould- 
ing or  pressing  glass  in  metallic  moulds  as  asubstitute  for  blowing  and  cutting,  it  is 
believed,  is  entirely  of  American  origin,  and  although  adopted  to  some  extent  in 
Europe,  the  products  there  are  very  inferior  in  beauty.  Indeed  the  process  of  mould- 
ing glass,  so  far  as  we  can  learn,  is  used  in  Europe  only  as  a  preparation  for  cutting, 
the  labor  of  which  process  is  thereby  very  much  reduced.  But  the  New  England 
Company  have  brought  the  process  to  so  much  perfection,  that  their  drinking  ves- 
sels are  made  by  it  of  such  finish  and  beauty  as  to  deceive  the  eye,  except  on  close 
inspection,  with  the  idea  that  they  are  cut.  We  have  taken  some  pains  to  ascer- 
tain the  history  of  this  branch  of  glass  making  in  the  United  States,  and  have  been 
obligingly  furnished  with  some  facts  relating  to  it  by  Mr.  Jos.  N.  Howe,  the  Agent 
of  the  New  England  Company.  It  appears  that  moulded  glass  has  been  made  for 
a  long  time  in  a  certain  rude  form,  but  that  in  1826  Mr.  Enoch  Robinson,  then  in 
the  employ  of  the  New  England  Company,  took  out  letters  patent  for  the  invention 
of  a  process  by  which  furniture  knobs,  door  handles,  &c,  were  made  of  pressed 
glass.  The  validity  and  originality  of  this  patent  was  fully  tested  by  a  closely 
contested  lawsuit  in  Philadelphia,  carried  on  against  powerful  parties  in  Pittsburgh. 
In  1827  Mr.  Robinson,  against  the  ridicule  of  the  craft,  succeeded  in  moulding  a  salt 
stand,  and  various  other  articles  for  table  use,  and  from  that  time  the  invention,  as 
one  of  general  applicability,  may  be  considered  as  established.  In  1832  about 
£100  sterling  in  value  of  the  Boston  pressed  ware  was  taken  to  London  by  Mr. 
Ryan,  an  Englishman,  where  the  articles  in  question  excited  much  curiosity  and 
sold  profitably.  But  it  was  only  so  late  as  1837  that  a  thin  vessel  like  a  drinking 
glass  was  fashioned  by  the  pressing  process,  which  branch  of  the  manufacture 
has  since  steadily  increased.  The  show  of  pressed  articles  in  flint  glass  by 
the  New  England  Company  in  the  present  Exhibition  is  particularly  creditable 
to  the  high  reputation  of  that  establishment,  and  the  more  so,  that,  as  we  are 
assured  by  the  agent,  the  articles  shown  were  not  made  for  this  occasion,  but 
were  selected  from  saleable  goods  on  the  shelves  of  the  warehouse.  Mr.  Howe 
states  that  the  art  of  pressing  glass,  as  now  carried  on  in  the  United  States,  has 
worked  an  entire  revolution  in  the  business  of  flint  glass  manufacture  with  us, 
from  the  increased  facility  it  affords  in  making  the  great  variety  of  articles  and 
patterns  susceptible  of  being  thus  produced,  while  the  diminished  cost  of  produc- 
tion therefrom  resulting,  has  wonderfully  increased  the  competition  among  rival 
companies. 

From  flint  glass  are  formed  all  the  numberless  and  nameless  articles  of  glass, 
which  are  employed  as  objects  of  utility  or  ornament  for  the  table,  the  toilet,  the 
parlor,  or  the  cabinets  of  the  curious.  To  attempt  the  most  summary  sketch  of 
the  numerous  processes  by  which  these  objects  are  produced  and  ornamented,  would 
be  hopeless  in  any  reasonable  space.  A  glance  at  the  Austrian  and  French 
Courts  in  the  present  Exhibition  will  convey  an  idea  of  what  modern  art  has  ac- 
complished in  this  department  of  manufacture.  Our  illustrated  pages  have  also 
been  enriched  by  designs  copied  from  many,  of  these  objects. 

We  trace  to  Venice  the  origin  of  all  ornamental  and  colored  glass  blowing, 
a"nd  the  processes  still  in  use  at  Murano  are  believed  to  be  the  same  which  have 
been  practised  there  for  centuries  past.  Among  the  objects  thus  made  which 
most  excite  the  wonder  of  those  uninformed  in  the  steps  of  the  process,  are  the 


THE    NEW-YORK  EXHI 


BITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


spirally  colored  drinking  vessels,  the  letter  weights  with  interior  clusters  of 
flowers  and  other  colored  ornaments,  beads,  aventurine,  &c. 

We  will  briefly  describe  some  of  these  processes  as  we  have  seen  them 
practised  in  the  ancient  glass  houses  of  Murano.  Nowhere  is  the  art  of  pro- 
ducing numerous  and  brilliant  tints  of  colored  glass  better  understood  than  in 
Venice.  The  pot  metal  is  employed  is  the  flint  glass  without  lead,  although  lead 
is  used  to  render  some  of  the  colored  enamels  more  fusible.  To  take  the  simplest 
case,  that  of  a  drinking  glass  whose  tall  stem  involves  a  graceful  spiral  of  several 
threads  of  white  enamel  in  colorless  glass.  Cylindrical  rods  of  glass  about  the 
size  of  a  pen  stalk  are  drawn,  and  of  any  convenient  length  ;  these  are  colorless, 
and  also  of  every  tint  of  color  which  can  be  named,  transparent,  opaque  or  opaline, 
as  the  case  may  be.  A  mass  of  colorless  pot  metal  is  taken  from  the  furnace,  and 
fashioned  on  the  marverinto  a  cylindrical  form  ;  while  this  is  being  reheated,  ano- 
ther workman  has  broken  several  white  enamel  rods  to  the  same  length  as  the 
glass  cylinder,  and  has  also  heated  them  to  the  softening  point  in  the  mouth  of 
the  furnace.  The  first  workman  now  brings  his  heated  cylinder  of  colorless 
glass,  parallel  to  the  enamel  sticks,  and  one  by  one  attaches  them  to  his  cylinder  by 
simple  contact,  accurately  dividing  the  space  by  his  eye  so  that  the  enamel 
sticks  are  equally  distant  from  each  other.  He  now  rolls  the  compound  and  still 
soft  mass  upon  the  marver  until  the  white  cylinders  are  incorporated  into  the  sub- 
stance of  the  colorless  glass,  but  the  relative  distances  are  still  accurately  pre- 
served. Another  assistant  with  a  small  mass  of  hot  glass  on  the  end  of  his  punting 
rod  now  approaches  and  fastens  it  to  the  fore  end  of  the  cylinder  of  glass  still  hot 
enough  to  yield  to  pressure ;  and  as  soon  as  the  attachment  is  made  the  two  work- 
men twist  their  rods  in  opposite  directions,  which  has  the  effect  to  give  a  special 
twist  to  the  glass  cylinder  and  its  attached  filaments  of  white  enamel.  This  pro- 
cess is  continued  until  the  spiral  is  judged  to  be  sufficiently  close,  when  the  mass 
is  again  heated,  and  drawn  out  by  the  ordinary  process  of  drawing  glass  rods, 
until  it  has  acquired  the  desired  size.  A  section  from  this  spiral  rod  forms  the 
stem  of  a  wine  glass,  or  several  bits  of  equal  length,  placed  side  by  side  and 
reheated,  may  be  made  the  means  of  a  new  and  more  complex  spiral  column  by 
a  repetition  of  the  process  just  described.  In  this  manner  rods  are  found  of  vari- 
ously colored  spiral  threads  most  tastefully  intertwined,  every  color  that  can  be  nam- 
ed being  in  turn  selected  and  heated  in  the  same  manner,  alone,  or  in  combination 
with  others.  The  spirals  are  now  from  left  to  right,  and  again  the  reverse,  and 
both  are  often  seen  in  the  same  stem  or  rod.  Parallel  threads  of  color  are  pro- 
duced with  more  or  less  ease.  Conceive,  then,  all  the  prismatic  colors,  transparent, 
opaque,  or  opaline,  combined  in  an  almost  endless  series  of  snch  rods  as  have  been 
described,  and  placed  at  the  command  of  an  adroit  workman — what  wonders 
can  he  not  produce  by  their  skilful  combination  ?  Placed  side  by  side  upon  a 
plate  of  iron  in  the  heat  of  the  furnace,  such  a  series  of  rods  can  be  brought 
to  the  softening  point,  when  they  will  adhere  like  so  many  sticks  of  sugar  candy 
in  warm  weather.  When  they  are  in  this  condition  a  workman  approaches  with 
a  disc  of  hot  glass  upon  the  end  of  his  rod  of  such  diameter  as  will  measure  in  one 
revolution  exactly,  the  breadth  occupied  by  the  softening  spiral  rods.  He  gently 
rolls  the  edge  of  his  disc  over  the  hither  extremity  of  the  soft  rods,  which  are  imme- 
diately gathered  by  it  into  a  fluted  open  cylinder.  Tiiis  he  further  softens  at  the 
furnace,  and  by  rolling  it  on  the  marver  he  gathers  in  the  open  end  until  he  closes 
it  entirely,  then  applying  himself  to  inflation  he  blows  whatever  form  of  vessel  he 
will  from  it,  fashioning  it  by  his  turning  tool  and  scissors  at  his  pleasure.  Thus 
in  much  less  time  than  it  has  required  to  describe  his  steps,  we  have  a  curious  en- 
twined and  various  colored  vessel  of  oriental  grace,  a  perfect  miracle  of  com- 
plexity when  we  recall  the  simple  elements  comprising  it. 

It  is  easy  to  understand  that  out  of  the  same  pliant  and  parti-colored  rod, 
those  ornaments  of  infinite  variety  may  be  formed,  whose  presence  in  letter 
weights  has  puzzled  so  many.  It  is  only  requisite  to  a  better  understanding  of 
this  curious  product  to  remember  that  the  white  glass  forming  the  transparent 
mass  of  the  ornament  is  composed  of  much  more  fusible  materials  than  the 
colored  central  florets.  The  latter  are  fashioned  at  the  blow-pipe  table,  out  of  the 
very  spiral  and  colored  rods  whose  origin  has  been  already  described;  and  be- 
fore they  are  inclosed  in  their  crystaline  refracting  mausoleum  they  have  no 
special  beauty.  A  mass  of  soft  glass  sufficient  for  the  lower  half  of  such  a  letter 
weight  is  now  prepared,  and  upon  its  hot  surface  the  colored  floret  or  ornament 
is  applied,  while  immediately  another  workman  approaches  with  a  second  hemis- 
pherical mass  of  colorless  glass  which  he  applies  upon  the  upper  surface  of  the 
ornament.  Thus  one  compound  mass  is  produced  having  the  ornamental  glass  in 
its  centre,  and  after  being  duly  fashioned,  and  annealed,  and  cut,  forms  the  wonder 
which  we  see. 

We  have  already  described  the  mode  in  which  the  surface  of  the  Bohemian 
crystal  is  flashed  over  with  a  film  of  ruby  or  other  colored  glass.  It  will  be  readily 
understood  that  the  cutting  away  of  a  part  of  the  colored  surface  will  leave  the 
colorless  ground  in  bold  contrast.  The  engraving  of  glass  is  a  distinct  art 
and  requires  the  same  kind  of  skill  as  that  requisite  for  the  production  of  cameos 
and  intaglios,  which  was  so  well  understood  by  the  ancients.  Very  good  diagrams 
of  the  processes  of  glass  grinding  and  engraving  will  be  found  in  Knapp's  Applied 
Chemistry,  Vol.  II.,  article  Glass,  from  which  we  have  made  large  drafts  already. 


Among  the  curious  things  of  ancient  Egyptian  art  in  the  collection  of  Dr. 
Abbott,  so  long  on  view  in  New- York,  was  a  glass  ornament  with  a  chromatic 
interior  floret  resembling  so  nearly  the  Venetian  letter  weight  of  modern  times 
as  to  leave  no  doubt  (granting  the  genuineness  of  the  object)  that  all  the  processes 
of  the  modern  glass  house  were  then  in  use. 

Glass  beads  have  been  made  from  very  ancient  times  in  Venice  where  the  art  is 
still  practised.  It  will  readily  be  understood  that  the  variously  colored  rods  already 
described  may  be  as  easily  formed  tubular  as  solid.  One  of  the  peculiarities  of  glass 
is,  when  heated,  to  round  itself  on  the  sharp  edges.  When  beads  are  to  be  formed, 
colored  tubes  of  glass  drawn  down  to  the  proper  diameter  are  cut  up  into  pieces  of 
the  proper  length,  and  a  large  number  of  these  are  cautiously  heated,  when  their 
edges  contract  and  become  rounded  into  the  form  of  beads.  This  operation  is  per- 
formed in  a  revolving  cylinder  of  iron,  in  which  the  glass  fragments  are  tumbled 
about  by  the  revolutions  of  the  cylinder,  mingled  with  dry  lime  and  charcoal,  to  pre- 
vent them  from  agglomerating  when  softened.  A  fine  collection  of  the  Venetian 
beads,  mosaic  glass  enamels  {millefiori)  and  aventurine,  may  be  seen  in  the  Austrian 
court.  The  Venetian  Aventurine  owes  its  spangles  of  gold  color  to  the  presence 
of  small  particles  of  sub-oxyd  of  copper  (or  as  some  chemists  say,  of  metallic  cop- 
per), in  an  opaque  ground.  Among  the  modern  uses  of  glass  which  are  most  pro- 
mising of  future  usefulness  are  the  adaptation  of  large  and  strong  pipes  or  tubes 
of  glass  for  the  conveyance  of  water  and  other  fluids ;  and  also  casting  of  rough 
plates  of  strong  cheap  glass  for  roofs  and  floors  of  buildings.  As  glass  is,  in 
reality,  one  of  the  cheapest  of  manufactured  products,  and  also  one  of  the  strongest, 
when  formed  of  the  more  common  materials,  and  when  used  for  conveying  fluids 
its  color  is  a  matter  of  no  moment,  it  is  easy  to  believe  it  may  easily  take  the  place 
of  lead  in  conveying  water,  and  thus  avoid  all  the  risk  of  injury  to  health  which 
is  confessedly  inseparable  from  the  use  of  that  metal. 

Optical  Glass. — The  demands  of  physical  science  have  not  been  easily  met  by 
the  glass  maker,  who,  until  a  very  recent  period,  has  been  unable  to  supply  with 
any  certainty  even  moderately  large  masses  of  faultless  glass.  To  be  faultless  for 
optical  purposes,  glass  must  have  a  uniform  density,  a  high  refracting  power  (if 
flint  glass)  colorlessness,  freedom  from  strise,  and  lastly,  an  absence  of  air  bubbles. 
To  meet  these  requirements  has  staggered  the  resources  of  the  whole  scientific 
world,  who  have  by  the  most  able  commissions  investigated  this  subject  with  the 
greatest  care  both  in  England,  France  and  Germany.  For  some  time  Frauenhofer 
was  believed  to  be  the  only  person  who,  by  a  process  secret  with  himself,  could 
make  large  lenses  for  refracting  telescopes  free  from  strias  and  other  imperfections. 
This  was  early  in  the  present  century,  and  long  before  Faraday  had  made  his 
celebrated  researches  as  hear!  of  the  Commission  of  the  Royal  Society  for  inves- 
tigating the  subject.  We  will  not  repeat  the  history  of  this  interesting  subject, 
which  has  been  so  often  discussed,  and  may  be  found  in  all  the  standard  works. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  the  difficulty  has  been  overcome,  and  glass  discs  of  any  required 
dimensions  may  now  be  made  with  considerable  degree  of  certainty  that  they 
will  be  free  from  serious  imperfections.  The  difficulties  which  so  long  stood  in 
the  way  of  perfecting  this  branch  of  the  glass  maker's  art,  were  chiefly,  the 
existence  of  strias  from  inequalities  of  density  in  different  parts  of  the  mass,  the 
presence  of  air  bubbles,  which  were  given  off  in  a  late  stage  of  the  process  of  fusion, 
and  the  deterioration  of  color  from  the  implements  and  means  employed  in  stirring. 
Guinard,  a  pupil  of  Frauenhofer,  introduced  the  practice  of  stirring  the  molten 
mass  in  the  pot  by  means  of  a  stirrer  composed  of  the  same  materials  as  the  pot 
itself,  in  place  of  an  iron  rod  before  used.  This  simple  expedient,  combined  with 
great  skill,  especially  in  the  construction  of  his  furnace,  and  in  the  process  of  an- 
nealing, has  enabled  M.  Bontemps  to  produce  and  exhibit  in  London  in  1851,  a 
disc  of  faultless  flint  glass  of  29  inches  diameter,  and  weighing  over  200  pounds. 
The  jury  of  Class  V.  have  in  the  Jury  Reports  rendered  a  most  interesting 
account  of  this  remarkable  flint  glass  disc,  which  was  ground  and  finished  in  such 
a  manner  that  it  could  be  submitted  to  all  the  most  searching  optical  tests,  not 
omitting  the  use  of  polarized  light.  When  we  remember  that  the  joint  efforts  of 
Frauenhofer  and  Utzschneider  of"  Munich  produced  only  lenses  of  9  inches  diameter, 
and  that  in  1828  M.  Bontemps  was  regarded  as  having  produced  a  true  marvel  of 
optical  art  in  turning  out  a  lens  of  14  inches  diameter,  it  will  readily  be  under- 
stood that  the  late  achievements  of  the  same  gentleman  in  the  well  known  estab- 
lishment of  Messrs.  Clance,  Brothers  &  Co.,  in  Birmingham  (where  he  is  now  per- 
manently connected),  should  have  received  the  unqualified  approval  of  such  men 
as  Sir  David  Brewster,  Sir  John  Herschel,  Lord  Wrothesley,  Prof.  Miller,  Mr.  Simms, 
and  Mr.  Ross.  The  density  of  this  mass  was  3.56  to  3.58,  and  its  thickness 
about  2i  inches.  The  composition  of  Bontemps'  flint  glass  is  200  lbs.  of  pure 
sand,  as  much  pure  minium,  and  60  lbs.  of  calcined  soda.  The  metal  is  stirred 
during  thirty-three  hours,  and  until  the  stirrer  is  moved  with  difficulty.  The 
furnace  is  then  closed,  and  suffered  to  cool  for  about  eight  days,  when  the  cold 
mass  of  glass  is  broken  out  of  the  pot  and  its  opposite  faces  ground  to  determine 
its  quality.  Subsequently  it  is  cut  up  into  discs  of  such  size  as  may  be  required, 
which  are  then  softened  by  heat  and  pressed  in  a  mould  into  the  rough  form  of 
the  future  lens.  This  can  be  accomplished  without  injury  to  the  glass.  M. 
Bontemps  offered,  some  time  since,  to  the  French  Institute,  through  M.  Arago, 
to  furnish  lenses  for  a  telescope  22  inches  in  diameter,  at  the  following  rates  : — 

155 


THE    INDUSTRY  O 


F    ALL  NATIONS. 


Francs.  Dollars. 

Flint  glass  disc  22  inches  in  diameter,  and  weighing  80  pounds,  at 

6  francs  per  lb.,   400  80 

Softening  and  moulding  the  mass,   140  28 

640  108 

Crown  glass  disc,  weighing  50  lbs.,  at  5  francs  per  pound,  .  .  250  50 
Softening  and  moulding,   200  40 

450  90 

Such  a  flint  glass  disc  as  the  above  would  at  former  rates  have  cost  more  than 
twenty-two  times  as  much,  or  about  $8000,  and,  if  furnished  at  all,  would 
have  been  in  all  probabilty  of  inferior  quality.  The  chief  cost  of  refracting  tele- 
scopes has  formerly  been  in  the  object  glasses.  The  Cambridge  object  glass  (one 
of  the  largest  in  use)  is  about  10  inches  in  diameter,  and  its  cost  is  understood  to 
have  been  about  $15,000,  the  whole  instrument  costing  about  $25,000.  It  seems 
reasonable  to  hope  that  hereafter  refracting  telescopes  of  larger  size  may  be 
finished  at  a  greatly  reduced  cost,  although  we  must  remember  that  the  process 
of  grinding,  and  of  giving  an  exact  figure  to  the  lenses,  still  remains  a  great 
and  difficult  work. 

Very  few  specimens  of  optical  glass  are  seen  in  the  present  Exhibition, 
and  none  of  remarkable  size.    See  Nos.  12  and  19,  Class  10. 

Artificial  Gems. — The  visitor  at  the  Crystal  Palace  must  have  noticed  in  the 
Austrian  Court  the  collection  of  artificial  gems  shown  by  A.  Pazelt,  of  Tuman, 
Bohemia  (No.  2,  Class  24,  Austria).  These  pastes,  as  they  are  usually  called, 
rival  in  color  and  lustre  the  natural  gems,  and  are  in  fact  inferior  to  them  only 
in  hardness  (except  the  diamond  whose  adamantine  lustre  cannot  be  imitated). 
The  material  from  which  these  artificial  gems  are  made  is  a  very  colorless  and 
limpid  Hint  glass,  called  strass,  after  its  inventor.  Its  peculiar  limpidity  and  lus- 
tre is  due  not  so  much  to  the  great  quantity  of  lead  it  contains  as  to  a  portion 
of  the  silica  being  replaced  by  boracic  acid.  Its  composition  according  to  Wie- 
land  is : — 


No.  1. 

No.  2. 

No.  8 

Ground  rock  crystal,  

.  100 

100 

100 

Pure  minium,  

.  156 

154 

White  lead,  .  .  

171 

Purified  caustic  potash,  

.  54 

32 

56 

Boracic  acid,  or  its  equivalent  of  borax, 

7 

9 

6 

Arsenious  acid,  ...... 

i 

1 

i 

The  colorless  limpid  glass  thus  obtained  is  the  bar  is  of  all  the  artificial  glass 
gems,  and  may  be  colored  by  the  metallic  oxyd  already  noticed.  Thus  topaz 
is  imitated  with  glass  of  antimony  and  purple  of  cassius  or  oxyd  of  iron  ;  ruby 
with  purple  of  cassius;  emerald  with  oxyd  of  copper  or  chromium;  sapphire  with 
oxyd  of  cobalt;  garnet  with  purple  of  cassius,  glass  of  antimony  and  peroxyd  of 
manganese,  and  so  on. 

The  principles  of  glass  painting  have  already  been  discussed  in  an  article  to 
which  the  reader  is  referred. 


BANK-NOTE  ENGPvAVING. 

THE  specimens  of  this  art  in  the  Picture  Gallery  have  excited  the  admiration  of 
every  visitor  who  has  given  them  a  careful  examination.  Nothing  is  rendered 
more  familiar  to  us  by  habitual  use  than  a  bank-note;  yet,  of  the  thousands  who 
handle  them  daily,  there  are  very  few  who  bestow  even  a  passing  glance  upon  their 
vignettes  and  other  designs,  or  who  are  acquainted  with  the  mode  of  their  produc- 
tion. In  truth,  the  value  of  a  bank-note  as  the  representative  of  the  precious  met- 
als, takes  away  all  idea  of  its  worth  as  a  work  of  art,  and  yet  in  this  latter  respect 
it  is  entitled  to  notice.  Not  only  has  this  branch  of  engraving  been  carried  to  the 
highest  perfection,  but  it  is  interesting  to  us  to  consider  that  this  perfection  is  due 
exclusively  to  American  invention. 

The  prevention  of  forgery  in  bank-notes,  bonds,  certificates,  and  similar  prom- 
issory paper,  is  chiefly  due  to  the  costly  stylo  of  their  execution.  If  the  very  best 
artists  are  employed  in  drawing  the  designs,  and  the  best  engravers  in  executing 
them,  forgery  becomes  not  only  difficult,  but  unprofitable — a  bank-note  plate  at  the 
cost  of  one  thousand  dollars  is  much  less  likely  to  be  imitated  than  one  that  costs  one 
hundred.  And  this  consideration,  evidently  a  correct  one,  has  furnished  one  ex- 
ample of  the  valuable  alliance  between  business  and  art  which  is  common  in  highly 
refined  communities  ;  though  it  must  bo  confessed  that  in  this  case  the  union  is  not 
due  to  taste  only.  But  whether  due  to  taste  or  economy,  the  result  is  the  same, 
and  the  lover  of  art  will  find  his  curiosity  amply  repaid  if  ho  will  study  the  beauti- 
ful specimens  of  bank-note  engraving  in  the  picture, gallery,  exhibited  by  Messrs. 
Itawdon,  Wright,  Hatch  &  Co.,  48  Exchange  Place,  New- York  city,  and  by  Dan- 
forth,  Wright  &  Co.,  also  of  New-York. 

The  present  style  of  bank-note  engraving  originated  in  the  discovery,  by  our 


ingenious  countryman  Mr.  Jacob  Perkins,  of  the  method  of  engraving  on  steel 
which  gives  to  the  productions  of  this  art  a  durability  never  before  known.  By 
means  of  this  method  the  works  of  the  artist  may  be  reproduced  and  multiplied 
indefinitely.  A  steel  plate  properly  prepared  is  engraved  or  etched  in  the  usual 
way.  A  cylinder  of  very  soft  steel,  of  from  two  to  three  inches  in  diameter,  is 
made  to  roll  forwards  and  backwards  on  the  surface  of  the  steel  plate,  which  in  the 
mean  time  has  been  hardened,  until  the  impression  of  the  engraving  is  seen  upon 
the  cylinder  in  alto  relievo.  The  cylinder  is  then  hardened,  and  is  rolled  in  the 
same  manner  upon  the  surface  of  a  copper  or  soft  steel  plate ;  the  result  is  a  perfect 
copy  of  the  original  plate.  This  style  of  engraving  is  very  economical  where  a 
great,  or  an  indefinite  number  of  impressions  are  to  be  used — more  than  half  a 
million  of  impressions  have  been  printed  from  a  well-hardened  steel  plate,  while  a 
copper  plate  is  deteriorated  by  printing  six  thousand  impressions.  A  hardened 
steel  plate  will  in  fact  print  more  proof  impressions  than  six  copper  plates  will  give 
common  impressions.  At  the  very  lowest  estimate,  the  relative  values  of  the  two 
kinds  of  engraving  are  as  one  to  four,  apart  from  the  consideration  that  of  the  cop- 
per plate  impressions  many  are  imperfect.  On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  this  method  of  engraving  is  only  employed  where  a  number  of  impres- 
sions is  required  sufficient  to  wear  out  three  copper  plates;  a  less  number  would 
not  warrant  the  cost  of  making  a  steel  plate.  From  this  it  appears  that  much  tho 
largest  proportion  of  the  plates  now  in  use  must  be  of  copper.  The  art  of  steel 
engraving  is  very  extensively  applied  to  the  embellishment  of  standard  works,  and 
to  the  illustration  of  books  of  instruction  and  science.  But,  to  return  to  bank- 
note engraving;  besides  the  medallions  and  vignettes  on  the  notes,  there  are  other 
forms  of  engraving  consisting  of  a  variety  of  circular,  oval,  and  rectilineal  shapes, 
exceedingly  variegated  and  interlaid,  and  exhibiting  a  most  curious,  beautiful,  and 
symmetrical  intermingling  of  geometrical  figures.  All  these  are  produced  by  an 
ingenious  and  remarkable  machine  invented  by  our  countryman  Mr.  Asa  Spencer. 
This  machine  has  been  justly  compared,  in  its  power  of  presenting  an  infinite  diver- 
sity of  patterns,  to  the  far-famed  scientific  toy,  the  kaleidoscope.  It  possesses  this 
peculiarity  of  the  kaleidoscope,  that  the  turning  of  a  screw,  like  a  change  in  the  po- 
sition of  Sir  David  Brewster's  instrument,  gives  rise  to  an  entirely  new  pattern,  such 
as  has  never  been  seen  before,  and  may  never  recur  again.  This  pattern,  however, 
may  be  preserved  and  perpetuated  by  the  transferring  process.  The  forms  produced 
by  this  machine,  which  is  called  the  geometrical  lathe,  will  be  found  on  inspection 
to  contain  an  intricate  and  mazy  concretion  of  lines  and  dots,  which  to  the  practised 
eye  constitutes  the  best  practicable  means  of  identification.  And  to  these  forms  is 
given  the  effect  of  a  beautiful  combination  of  copper-plate  and  letter-press  printing, 
by  making  the  lines  which  in  one  scroll  or  block  are  white,  in  the  next  black,  and  so 
alternating  through  the  whole  series,  in  which  the  figures  themselves  are,  except  in 
the  shading,  precisely  alike.  It  is  worth  mentioning,  as  an  example  of  the  illiberal 
jealousy  which  merit  has  often  to  encounter,  that  Sir  William  Congreve  employed 
an  artist  of  the  first  talents  to  attempt  an  imitation  of  some  of  the  specimens  ex- 
hibited by  Mr.  Perkins  in  England  in  1820,  when  he  was  endeavoring  to  bring  his 
invention  into  use.  The  attempt  was  pronounced  by  his  own  countrymen  a  total 
failure,  particularly  in  the  small  writing  and  engine  work ;  though  Sir  William  main- 
tained the  opposite  opinion,  and  published  a  pamphlet  for  the  purpose  of  impressing 
this  opinion  on  the  public.  This  "  Record  "  which  has  for  its  high  object  to  pro- 
mote the  knowledge  and  diffusion  of  art  among  the  nations,  and  to  remove  those 
narrow  national  prejudices  which  have  interfered  with  such  diffusion,  is  the  proper 
place  for  holding  up  to  public  rebuke  the  conduct  of  Sir  William  Congreve. 

In  the  making  of  plates,  cylinders,  circular  or  other  dies,  the  best  cast  steel  is 
used.  For  the  purpose  of  transferring  fine  and  delicate  engravings,  a  surface  stra- 
tum of  the  steel  plate  or  cylinder,  descending  to  about  three  times  the  depth  of 
the  engraving,  is  decarbonated,  by  which  it  is  softened  and  rendered  fit  either  for 
transferring  or  engraving  designs.  This  is  a  process  demanding  great  expertness. 
After  any  piece  of  steel  has  been  decarbonated,  whether  a  plate,  or  cylinder,  or 
die,  it  must,  previously  to  being  put  under  the  press,  be  again  carbonated,  or  re- 
converted into  steel  capable  of  being  hardened.  This  carbonization,  or  reconver- 
sion into  steel,  is  effected  by  means  of  animal  carbon.  Here  again  is  a  process 
which  can  only  be  safely  attempted  by  the  most  experienced  workmen.  It  would 
be  impossible  to  describe  by  words  only,  the  two  criteria  of  color  and  sound  on 
which  tho  successful  execution  of  this  delicate  task  depends.  They  are  only  to  be 
learned  by  actual  observation.  They  are  among  the  mysteries  of  art.  Before  con- 
cluding this  brief  notice,  we  will  venture  once  more  to  ask  the  curious  in  the  fine 
arts  to  look  at  the  vignettes  on  the  specimens  of  bank-note  engraving  in  the  gal- 
lery of  paintings  in  the  Crystal  Palace,  however  familiar  they  may  seem  to  him. 
lie  may  be  surprised  to  discover  in  them  some  unexpected  beauties,  lie  will  not 
only  admire  their  correctness  in  perspective,  in  drawing,  and  in  shading,  but  also 
the  rare  finish  of  their  engraving.  He  will  derive  pleasure,  moreover,  from  the 
varied  and  ingenious  representations  of  the  pursuits  of  industry  on  the  land  and 
on  the  ocean  ;  and  may  be  led  into  an  agreeable  train  of  thought  by  contemplating 
the  pictorial  views  of  that  labor  and  art  which  supply 

"  TIio  fireside  enjoyments,  homc-born  happiness," 

of  many  millions  of  freo  and  happy  people  on  both  sides  of  tho  Atlantic. 


MINTON  &  CO. 's  Tiles, 


No.  22. 


No.  24. 


V  ran  jVsFZrS& 


Stoke-upon-Trent,  Staffordshire. 
No.  23  A.. 


HfcA*AuAuA 
H^AfcAuAfcA 

*A*A*AmA 


^1  BTS  S3  £3  £2 

^•I^AmA^Am 


^"is  sria  Brn  srH 


No.  25. 


SCALE  :--HALF-INCH  TO  A  FOOT. 


ni.LEK,   COA.TES,   &  YQULE,   279,  Pearl  Street,  New  York 


THE    NEW -YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


The  fine  silver  Centre  Piece,  of  which  we  here 
give  an  illustration,  is  exhibited  by  Mr.  J.  Angell, 
of  the  Strand,  London.  The  scene  and  the  charac- 
ters are  thoroughly  and  characteristically  English, 
and  both  are  familiar  as  household  words  to  every 


reader  of  English  literature.  The  precious  metal  is 
not  too  precious  to  give  visible  form  to  a  scene  in 
which  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley  figures,  that  exqui- 
site creation  of  the  inventive  genius  of  Steele  and 
Addison's  refined  taste,  which  embodies  all  our  no- 


The  Gas  Bracket  is  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Cornelius,  Baker 
<fc  Co.,  of  Philadelphia.  This  bracket  has  four  lights,  though  only 
two  are  given  in  our  engraving.  The  bronze  is  heavily  gilt,  and 
the  ornamentation,  both  in  style  and  workmanship,  is  excellent 
and  beautiful,  and  unexceptionably  appropriate  to  the  object 


A  beautiful  and  highly  meritorious  example  of  American  manu- 
facture in  the  precious  metals — a  branch  of  art-manufacture  only 

just  now  rising  to  commercial  importance  in  this  country  is  seen 

in  the  Salt  Cellar,  placed  at  the  head  of  this  column.    It  is  silver 


tions  of  the  character  of  the  old  English  gentleman. 
The  story  of  the  interview  is  told  with  humor  in 
the  Spectator  of  July  30th,  1711.  The  good  knight, 
the  principal  figure  in  the  foreground,  has  just 


alighted  from  his  horse,  and  exposes  his  palm  to 
two  or  three  of  the  gypsies,  who  crumple  it  into 
all  shapes,  and  diligently  scan  every  wrinkle  that 
can  be  made  in  it,  while  one  unfolds  her  cabalis- 


tic art,  and  over  everv  barrier  of  prejudice  wins  |  has  drawn  with  as  nice  a  discrimination  as  ap- 
her  way  to  the  heart  of  Sir  Roger,  by  her  apt  allusions  I  pears  in  the  Coverley  portrait  The  figure  in  the 
to  his  suit  to  the  coy  and  fascinating  widow,  whose  I  background  is  Addison  himself,  surveying  the  scene, 
personal  charms  and  mental  graces  the  Spectator  I  which  his  pen  was  to  make  immortal. 


gilt,  and  pierced  to  show  the  rich  color  of  the  ruby  glass  lining. 
Mr.  J.  T.  Ames,  Chicopee,  Mass.,  is  the  manufacturer  and  exhibitor 
of  this,  and  also  of  the  silver  gilt  Wm  Cooler  which  comes  next 
in  order. 


The  ornamental  bronze  Clock  is  exhibited  by  MM.  Dcplan 
<fc  Salles,  of  Paris.  In  the  group  of  figures  Venus  is  represented 
emerging  from  a  sea-shell,  and  two  cupids  aiding  her. 


THE    I  N  D  U  S  T  11  Y    O  F    ALL  NATIONS. 


We  continue  our  illustrations  of  the  goods  of  Messrs.  CORNELIUS,  Baker  id  Co,  with 
two  subjects  engraved  upon  this  page.  The  Chandelier  is  very  rich  and  beautiful, 
suited  to  adorn  as  well  as  illuminate  the  apartment  in  which  it  may  be  hung.  The 


violate  a  fundamental  law  of  decorative  art,  that  all  ornamentation  should  rise  out 
of  construction  and  belong  to  it. 

The  remaining  engravings  illustrate  an  Ornamental  Table,  exhibited  in  the  Swiss 


Department,  by  J.  Wirtz,  of  Berne.  The  material  is  a  very  light-colored  wood  and 
the  carvings  are  executed  with  delicacy  and  spirit.  It  was  not,  however,  to  displav 
the  carving,  but  to  point  out  the  errors  committed  in  the  decoration,  that  we  have 
had  this  article  engraved.    In  furniture  of  every  kind  the  first  consideration  of  the 


bronze  of  which  it  is  made  has  a  tint  of  rich,  deep  green,  which  is  relieved  with  ad- 
mirable effect  by  the  brilliancy  of  the  gilding  applied  to  the  decorative  parts.  The 


adjoining  Bracket  with  a  pendent  chandelier  of  four  lights  is  also  characterised  by 
elegance  of  form  and  ornamentation,  excepting,  however,  the  little  figures  perched 
jusl  above  the  branches  of  the  lights.    These  have  no  adaptation  to  a  chandelier,  and 

158 


designer  should  be  to  adapt  it  perfectly  to  its  intended  use.  While  this  rule  admits 
of  no  exception,  its  observance  will  be  found  to  be  the  safest  guide  to  beauty.  There 
are  many  objects  in  the  Exhibition  richly  and  lavishly  decorated,  which  nevertheless 


THE    NEW-YOKK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


fail  to  please  the  visitor,  who,  if  critically  educated,  will 
at  once  refer  this  effect  to  its  proper  cause — the  viola- 
tion of  the  principle  just  stated.  The  Swiss  table  is  such 
an  instance  of  this  pointed  disregard  of  use  and  its  con- 
sequent want  of  beauty.  Nothing  can  be  more  obvious 
than  that  the  top  of  a  table  should  have  a  perfectly 
6mooth  and  level  surface;  whatever  ornaments  are  em- 
ployed here  must  be  inlaid.    But  the  delicate  floral  de- 


corations in  this  example  are  carved  in  high  relief,  al- 
ways liable  to  be  defaced,  and  only  make  the  toy  use- 
less, which  they  were  designed  to  make  beautiful.  Be- 
sides, there  is  no  repose  in  the  work.  One  part  is  as 
fully  decorated  as  another.  It  bristles  all  over  with 
carvings,  which  are  spoilt  by  the  want  of  contrast,  and 
lose  their  beauty  in  its  own  excess.  The  rightly  educated 
decorative  artist  understands  the  value  of  simplicity, 


as  a  refined  taste  and  judicious  study  of  nature  teach 
him  to  be  appropriate  in  style  and  number  and  there- 
fore to  be  beautiful. 


Messrs.  Joseph  Stocvcxel  *  Co.,  of  New- York,  exhibit 
a  great  variety  of  glass  ware,  both  pressed  and  cut, 
from  their  manufactory.    These  specimens  are  made  of  a 


and  that  good  taste  is  shown  quite  as  frequently  by  the 
absence  as  the  presence  of  ornament.  Above  all,  he  will 
avoid  constructing  decoration  ;  but  having  first  construct- 
ed, he  will  then  decorate  his  work,  wit b,  ornaments  such 


clear  and  beautiful  glass,  and  display  a  high  degree  of 
skill  in  the  manufacture. 


A  rich  Brocade  Poi-lix  of  pink  and  white,  and  made  j  Norwich,  England,  exclusively  for  the  firm  of  A.  T.  I  The  pattern  is  composed  of  leaves,  flowers  and  grape 
with  silver  tissue,  is  manufactured  by  Messrs.  Clabburn,  |  Stewart  <k  Co.,  of  New-York,  by  whom  it  is  exhibited.  [  very  tastefully  grouped  and  wreathed  together. 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


Two  Lamps  exhibited  by  Lkrolle  Freres,  arc  of 
a  high  order  of  merit.  The  female  figures  which 
support  the  lamps  are  modelled   with  artistic 


skill,  and  exhibit  a  beauty  of  workmanship  which 
is  almost  characteristic  of  the  bronzes  contrib- 
uted by  this  firm. 


Below  is  a  Centre  Piece,  which  is  now  filled 
with  flowers,  but  may  be  converted  into  a  can- 


delabrum at  the  pleasure  of  the  owner.  The  figure  is  bronze,  but 
the  remainder  of  the  piece  is  heavily  gilt. 

The  oruamental  Clock  Case  is  contributed  by  M.M.  Duplan  <fc 


The  bronze  Vase  on  the  opposite  page,  with 
a  pedestal  of  black  marble,  is  exhibited  by  the 
manufacturer,  Augustus  Weygand,  of  Paris. 


Salles,  manufacturers  of  artistic  bronzes,  Rue  de  Bondy,  Paris.  The 
case  is  surmounted  by  a  figure  of  Contemplation,  sitting  in  the  at- 
titude of  profound  thought. 

The  Vase  which  follows  is  executed  in  terra  cotta,  and  is  exhibited 
by  Messrs.  Ferguson,  Miller  &  Co.,  of  Heathfield,  Scotland.  The  orna- 
ments upon  this  vase  are  designed  in  the  style  of  the  antique. 


We  present  our  readers  with  another  of  the  beautiful  Berlin  zinc 
castings  executed  by  Geiss.    This  statue  is  named  the  Basket  Carrier. 

1G0 


The  same  exhibitor  contributes  the  ornamental 
Clock.  This  is  a  combination  of  porcelain  and 
gilt  bronze  work.    Instead  of  a  dial,  the  hours  are 


marked  on  a  porcelain  revolving  vase,  and  the 
time  is  indicated  by  a  serpent's  tongue. 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


The  three  ornmental  Vases  executed  in  bronze,  which 
adorn  the  top  of  this  page,  come  from  the  establishment 
of  MM.  VaLEMSEXs  <fc  Co.,  Rue  de  Temple,  Paris.  This 


and  more  valuable  than  many  works  in  the  precious 
metals  which  might  be  named.    They  furnish  a  most 


firm  are  extensive  manufactures  of  artistic  bronzes  and 
church  ornaments,  and  have  acquired  a  deservedly  high 
reputation,  which  is  fully  sustained  by  the  exquisite  de- 


The  designs,  we  believe,  of  all  these  vases,  are  from 
the  works  of  Benvenuto  Cellini,  the  unsurpassed  master 
of  the  art  of  designing  and  working  the  precious  metals. 
They  have  been  rendered  with  so  much  completeness 


convincing  demonstration  of  the  superior  importance  of 
ait  to  mere  wealth  as  conferring  value.    The  vase  on 


licacy  and  beauty  of  workmanship  lavished  upon  these 
vases.    The  art  which  they  display  has  made  them  richer 


and  fidelity  by  the  skill  of  our  engraver,  that  a  detailed 
explanation  is  unnecessary. 

The  Candelabrum  in  bronze  and  partlv  gilt,  is  also 
contributed  by  Villemsens  <fc  Co.    Its  principal  deco.a- 


the  left  has 
silver. 


been  covered  with   a  surface  of  oxvdised 


161 


tion  is  formed  by  a  trophy  of  arms  and  armor,  and  the 
branches  are  modelled  after  dolphins. 


THK    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


Tn  our  owu  Crystal  Pulnce,  us  in  that  in  Hyde  Park,  the  French  exhibitors  of  bronzes  wild  son  of  the  desert,  while  watching  for  his  enemy  or  waiting  the  chance  of  plunder, 
greatly  excel  all  others  in  the  number  and  variety,  a8  well  as  in  the  artistic  merit         We  engrave  another  of  the  examples  of  ornamental  furniture  placed   in  the 


of  their  contributions,  although  in  regard  to  this  last  particular,  single  articles  may 
be  selected  for  which  a  comparison  with  the  French  bronzes  need  not  be  shunned.  Tc 


American  Department  of  the  Exhibition.     This  piece  is  a  Blackwalnut  Siokroabd, 


the  exquisite  works  from  Paris  already  illustrated  in  this  part  of  the  Record,  we 
add  two  groups  which  may  be  found  among  the  goods  of  Auguste  Weygand,  Rue  Ville 


contributed  from  the  manufactory  of  Alexander  Roux,  New-York.  The  material  is 
one  admirably  adapted  to  display  the  skill  of  the  cabinet-maker  and  the  carver,  and 


du  Temple,  Pons.  The  first  represents  two  Wild  Horses  playing  together;  the  other  I  the  size  is  not  too  large  for  the  use  and  style  of  moderately  wealthy  families.  Mir- 
is  an  Atuu  in  AmBOBH,  and  faithfully  delineates  the  craft  and'stealthy  character  of  the  |  rors  arc  inserted  in  the  oblong  panels  of  the  upright  portion.    The  carving,  which 

163 


THE    NEW -YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


is  not  profuse,  is  in  the  imitative  style,  and  reproduces 
game  and  fish  and  clusters  of  flowers  in  the  usual  manner. 
The  high  relief  of  the  groups  in  the  panels  is  objec- 
tionable, if  for  no  other  reason,  as  rendering  the  carv- 


with  which  the  heron,  6truck  through  with  the  arrow, 
yields  its  reluctant  life. 

A  work  quite  different  from  this,  but  not  less  worthy 
of  attention  for  the  beauty  and  appropriateness  of  the 


ing  liable  to  accident  and  damage. 

The  group  called  the  Dying  Herox,  which  adorns 
this  page,  is  exhibited  by  MM.  Duplax  <fc  Salles,  the 
eminent  manufacturers  of  artistic  bronzes.  Rue  de  Bondy, 
Paris.  This  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  works  of 
art  in  the  Exhibition.  In  it  the  talent  of  the  artist 
and  the  skill  of  the  workman  are  equally  conspicuous. 
It  renders  a  scene  from  nature  with  a  vividness  which 
produce  painful  sensations,  mingled  with  our  admiration 


sign  and  the  wonderful  perfection  and  delicacv  of  the 
casting,  is  the  Baptismal  Font,  which  is  exhibited  by 
the  Royal  Irox  Foundry  of  Berlin,  through  the  agency 


style  of  art.  Like  the  other  Berlin  iron  castings,  it  has 
a  bronze  surface  to  guard  against  rust,  and  it  is  lined 
with  brass. 

The  group  in  plaster  which  concludes  the  page  is 


exhibited  by  M.  Auguste  LeChesxe,  a  French  sculptor. 
It  is  named  the  Eagle  axd  Child,  and  represents  the 
attempt  of  an  eagle  to  carry  off  a  child,  while  the  mo- 


of  the  artistic  power  it  displays.  As  one  stands  before 
the  mute  and  motionless  bronze,  he  seems  to  hear  the 
shrill,  piercing  scream,  and  see  the  convulsive  struggles 


of  the  Prussian  Consnl.    The  figures  which  stand  upon 
the  pedestal,  the  bas-reliefs  of  the  panels,  and  the  orna- 
mental work,  are  conceived  and  executed  in  the  happiest 
163 


ther  lies  in  a  profound  sleep,  unconscious  of  the  danger 
that  threatens  her  defenceless  offspring.  It  is  a  work  ot 
decided  merit  and  power. 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


The  Amks  Manufacturing  Company,  Chicopee, 
Mass.,  by  permission  of  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment, semi  to  the  Exhibition  a  large  colleetion  of 
the  regulation  and  fancy  swords  which  they  manu- 


p|4 

Saw?*  i 


A  Pier  Taiilk,  with  a  richly  carved  rose-wood  frame  and 
white  marble  top,  is  exhibited  by  A.  Eliakrs,  Cornhill,  Boston. 


The  reclining  statue  in  marble  is  exhibited  by  the 
sculptor,  L'Eveque,  of  Paris,  and  is  named  by  him  Lesbia, 


but  we  cannot  say  whether  it  commemorates  the  Lesbia  I  or  her  who  made  the  despairing  leap  from  the  Leucadio 
who  lives  in  the  mellifluous  lyrics  of  Horace  or  Moore,  |  cliff. 


The  concluding  illustration  represents  a  very  large,  I  Planetarium,  invented  and  made  by  Thomas  H.  Bariow, 
complicated,    and    ingenious  piece    of  mechanism, — the  |  of  Lexington,   Kentucky.     We  cannot  regard  this  ap- 


facture  for  the  army  and  navy.  The  Sword  which 
we  illustrate  on  this  page  belongs  to  the  latter 
service. 


paratus  ns  ranking  higher  than  a  philosophical  toy,  and  I  authority  of  Sir  John  Herschcl,  in  his  Outlines  of  Astro- 
our  opinion  i"  confirmed  by  the  high  and  unimpeachable  |  noniy. 

164 


THE    NEW-YORK     EXHIBITION     ILLUS  T  R  ATED. 


We  introduce  in  the  engraving  upon  the  left  of  this  page,  two  Vases  of  the  beauti- 
ful glass  manufactured  by  M.  Joseph  Maes,  of  Paris.  The  taller  vase  is  ornamented 
with  stripes  of  a  milky-white,  opalescent  glass,  the  color  of  which  is  produced  by 


phosphate  of  lime  or  arsenic,  the  latter  producing  the  finer  varieties.  The  chemical 
composition  of  this  French  ornamental  glass  differs  from  that  of  Bohemia  which  it  so 


believe,  can  be  made  at  a  cheaper  rale.  M.  Maes  also  exhibits  specimens  of  leuses  of 
perfect  transparency. 

The  adjoining  Vase  and  Decanter  arc  exhibited  by  E.  Stainer.  They  are  Bohe- 
mian ruby  glass,  and  have  engraved  decorations. 


strongly  resembles,  in  the  substitution  of  oxyd  of  zinc  for  oxyd  of  lead.  This  change 
is  attended  with  many  advantages.  The  glass  is  purer,  and  less  liable  to  changes  of 
color  in  manufacture,  due  to  the  conversion  of  the  oxyd  into  metallic  lead,  and,  we 


Denmark  is  represented  in  the  New- York  Exhibition  only  by  two  groups  of  sculp- 
ture, but  one  of  these  is  an  acknowledged  masterpiece  of  majesty  in  art— the  Christ 
and  the  Apostles  of  Thorwaldsen — and  the  other  is  the  remarkable  group  which  we 
here  engrave,  the  Adam  and  Eve,  by  Prof.  Jerictiau,  of  Copenhagen.  The  sculptor 
has  chosen  the  moment  of  reflection  and  remorse  which  followed  the  fallacious  plea- 
sure of  disobedience. 

The  sentiment  of  the  following  group  in  marble  is  in  striking  contrast  with  the 


preceding.  It  represents  Lovers  Going  to  tue  Well,  and  happily  expresses  the  con- 
fiding affection  and  happiness  of  the  affianced  pair.  It  is  exhibited  by  Tommaso  Laz 
zkrini,  of  Cararra. 

165 


THE    INDUS  IKY    OF    A  I,  L,  NATIONS. 


Our  first  engraving  on  this  page  represents,  though  less  completely  tlian  we  could 
wish,  a  Mosaic  PlCTDRI  in  wood,  exhibited  by  T.  Garassino  of  Savona,  Sardinia. 
The  subject  of  the  picture  belongs  to  the  mythology  of  Greece.    When  Minos,  King 


On  one  of  the  occasions  of  selecting  the  victims,  such  as  the  picture  represents,  The- 
seus voluntarily  offered  himself  as  one  of  the  youths,  with  the  design  of  slaying  the 
Minotaur,  and  by  the  aid  of  Ariadno,  his  adventure  was  successful. 


of  Crete,  conquered  the  Athenians,  he  imposed  an  annual  tribute  of  seven  youths  and 
seven  maidens,  w)-o  were  selected  by  lot  from  the  families  of  the  Athenians,  and 


given  up,  on  their  arrival  in  Crete,  to  be  devoured  by  the  Minotaur,  the  mythic  mon- 
ster which  Minos  kept  in  the  Labyrinth.  From  tliis  cruel  tribute  Athens  was  de- 
livered by  Theseus,  the  great  legendary  hero,  and  founder  of  the  Attic  nationality. 


The  richly  carved  Chair  was  manufactured  by  Geo.  J.  Henkels,  of  Philadelphia. 
The  material  is  an  ironwood  from  Mexico,  which  admits  of  fine  carving  and  a  high 
polish  The  wood  once  formed  part  of  the  fortress  of  San  Juan  d'Ulloa,  whence  it 
was  brought  in  the  rougli  state  by  an  officer  of  the  American  army  of  occupation 


under  General  Scott.  The  ornaments  of  the  chair  are  heraldic,  and  consist  of  the  wea- 
pons and  armor  of  various  ages,  around  which  the  acorn  and  olive  branches  are 


THE    NEW-YOKK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


gracefully  disposed.  The  American  shield  and  eagle  have 
liot  been  neglected.  It  is  upholstered  with  green  goat- 
skin. The  name  of  the  French  artist  who  executed  the 
carving  we  have  not  ascertained. 

Messrs.  Morant  <fc  Boyd,  of  London,  exhibit  a  Cabinet 
which  the  foregoing  illustration  represents.  The  surface 
is  enamelled,  and  the  decorative  portions  are  gilt. 

The  large  engraving  which  fills  this  page  represents 


one  of  the  patent  Axminster  Carpets,  from  the  extensive 
manufactory  of  Messrs.  James  Templeton  <t  Co.,  of  Glas- 
gow. These  carpets  are  woven  on  the  loom,  and  not 
tufted  to  the  warp  as  was  formerly  done  ;  in  this  way 
the  worsted  is  thrown  on  one  side,  and  a  smoother  sur- 
face is  obtained. 

The  decoration  invites  a  brief  comment  upon  its  cha- 
racter.   It  will  be  seen  that  the  carpet  is  divided  into 


compartments  which  are  surrounded,  and  in  part  filled 
with  arabesque  scrolls,  <tc,  some  of  which  were  invented 
to  ornament  furniture,  while  others  were  undoubtedly 
designed  for  architectural  uses — mural  ornaments,  and 
carved  and  gilded  cornices.  The  flowers  and  fruits 
which  constitute  the  remainder  of  the  design  are  direct 
imitations  of  nature.  Like  the  scrolls,  they  seem  to  stand 
out  in  high  relief,  and  to  have  been  strewn  upon  the  sur- 


face rather  than  to  form  an  integral  part  of  it.  One  is 
almost  afraid  to  walk  here,  lest  his  inadvertent  foot  should 
crush  the  delicate  beauty  of  the  roses,  or  tread  out  the 
purple  juices  of  the  grapes.  We  submit  that  this  is  not 
appropriate.  Good  taste  forbids  the  confused  and  indis- 
criminate intermingling  of  the  ornaments  of  different 
arts.  We  do  not  strew  bouquets  or  pile  fruit  upon  our 
parlor  floors  to  decorate  them,  nor  should  we  find  it  con- 


venient to  walk  over  oronze  scrolls,  or  carved  panels  and 
mouldings  ;  and  common  sense  should  teach  that  the  pic- 
tures of  these  things  are  in  the  same  places  equally  in- 
appropriate. Indeed  the  impropriety  increases  as  the 
imitation  becomes  more  deceptive  and  exact.  Both 
makers  and  buyer's  of  carpets  may  profitably  refer  to 
the  practice  of  those  eastern  countries  where  carpets  had 
their  origin.  There  a  strict  mosaic  principle  prevails 
167 


throughout,  and  no  fac-simile  or  relievo  ornaments  being 
employed,  the  carpel  is  smooth  and  flat  in  appearance  a* 
well  as  in  reality.  Turks,  Persians,  and  Hindoos,  are 
commonly  classed  among  barbarous,  or  at  least  half- 
civilised  nations,  but  in  the  matter  of  decorating  carpets 
they  exhibit  a  refined  taste  and  correct  perception  of  the 
fitness  of  things,  such  as  is  rarely  seen  in  the  manufac- 
tures of  Europe. 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


We  introduce  upon  this  page  an  illustration  of  the 
truly  magnificent  BtlFEET,  exhibited  by  Messrs. 
Hulki.ev  <fe  Heiiter,  ef  New-York.  The  designs  for 
the  decorations  were  made  by  Mr.  TIerter,  and  were 
executed  by  Mr.  E.  Plassman  ;  and  the  construction 
was  carried  on  under  the  joint  direction  of  these  gen- 
tlemen. The  material  employed  is  American  oak, 
which,  in  color  and  every  other  artistic  requirement, 
is  Been  in  this  work  to  bo  admirably  suited  for  ornamen- 
tal furniture. 

This  excellent  production  deserves  something  more 
than  a  passing  glance  of  curiosity  or  admiration.  It  is 
one  of  the  most  noticeable  objects  that  challenge  the  at- 
tention of  the  visitor  to  the  Exhibition,  and  one  which 


will  repay  a  careful  study  as  much  as  any  other  among 
the  thousand  articles  of  luxury  there  displayed.  In  its 
own  class  we  regard  it,  on  the  whole,  as  the  best  speci- 
men of  the  art  it  exemplifies.  The  carving  has  been 
executed  with  masterly  skill,  with  the  boldness  which 
the  material  requires,  and  with  a  due  regard  to  the 
limitations  which  it  imposes.  The  artist  has  wisely,  we 
think,  refrained  from  minute  finish  and  prettinesses  of 
detail,  such  as  are  proper  in  other  materials,  and  give 
their  value  to  bijoux.  The  design  produces  its  good 
effect  by  its  general  harmony  and  consistency.  Every 
part  fits  with  every  other,  and  is  adapted  thoroughly  to 
the  uses  for  which  a  highly  ornamental  sideboard  is  de- 
signed. The  ornaments  are  not  only  excellent  and  rneri- 
16S 


torious  in  themselves,  but  they  have  a  characteristic 
significance  in  their  application.  They  consist  of  repre- 
sentations of  game  and  fruits,  which  are  disposed  with 
judicious  taste,  and  are  relieved  with  decorations  cut  in 
geometric  forms.  The  good  effect  of  these  is  seen  in  the 
panelling  behind  the  centre-piece,  satisfying  the  natural 
expectation  of  the  spectator,  but  not  withdrawing  his 
attention  by  a  distracting  variety  of  accessories  from 
the  artist's  masterpiece.  This  central  group  representing 
the  Death  of  the  ^tag,  is  designed  and  carved  with  great 
vigor  and  truthfulness.  The  production  of  the  more 
important  ornamental  portions  of  the  buffet,  upon  au 
enlarged  scale,  renders  a  detailed  description  of  them 
unnecessary. 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


The  tendency  of  civilisation  is  always  from  plain- 
ness to  ornament.  The  articles  of  convenience  of  one 
age  become  objects  of  luxury  in  the  next,  and  human 
ingenuity  is  taxed  to  decorate  the  common  necessaries 
of  life.  To  trace  the  successive  steps  by  which  the  rude 
blocks  of  wood  and  roughly  hewn  planks  that  consti- 
tuted the  furniture  of  the  earliest  times,  have  assumed 
the  elegant  and  decorated  forms  of  civilised  periods,  is 


one  of  the  most  instructive  and  amusing  branches  of 
historical  inquiry.  The  wealth,  the  manners,  the  re- 
finement, all  that  relates  to  the  social  condition  of  a 
people,  may  be  deduced  from  the  history  of  their  fur- 
niture. The  condition  of  commerce,  and  of  the  indus- 
trial and  fine  arts,  is  contained  in  such  a  history,  and  in 
this  point  of  view,  the  mutations  of  furniture  are  as  im- 
portant to  be  known  as  the  changes  of  governments. 
The  buffet  may  thus  be  taken  to  mark  an  era  in  our 


social  existence — the  transition  period  when  the  domes- 
tic appointments  of  our  fathers  are  being  replaced  by 
the  costly  and  elaborate  furniture  of  Europe.  Indeed, 
the  imposing  dimensions  of  the  buffet  are  more  in  unison 
with  the  hereditary  magnificence  of  an  English  manor- 
house  or  an  Austrian  castle,  than  with  any  of  our  private 
residencea  in  town  or  country.  And  here  we  may  be 
allowed  to  remark  the  prevailing  want  of  correspondence 
in  style  between  the  architecture  of  a  house  and  its 
furniture.    Undoubtedly  they  ought  to  harmonize,  and 


we  find  that  such  a  relation  has  always  existed  in  other 
countries  and  in  past  times.  The  forms  and  ornaments  of 
furniture  were  invariably  copied  from  the  architecture 


of  the  period,  so  that  the  date  of  the  one  being  ascer- 
tained, the  other  is  known  also.  This  fundamental  rule, 
equally  sanctioned  by  usage  and  by  taste,  we  have  for- 
gotten or  disregarded.    Our  edifices,  public  and  private, 


can  Department,  were  the  work  of  foreigners  who  have 
become  citizens  by  adoption.  So  far  as  we  can  ascer- 
tain, all  the  specimens  of  sculpture  in  wood  worthy  of 
notice  are  of  such  origin.    While  our  native  mechanics 


are  built  in  styles  borrowed  without  judgment  from 
every  age  and  nation,  and  are  decorated  and  furnished 
with  a  taste  quite  as  cosmopolitan  and  injudicious. 
Rooms,  crowded  with  articles,  each  the  most  expensive 


exhibit  an  unequalled  constructive  skill  and  versatility, 
they  are  not  often  gifted  by  nature  with  artistic  clever- 
ness, and  their  attempts  of  this  sort  are  usually  far  in- 
ferior to  the  productions  of  European  workmen,  who, 


of  its  class,  may  advertise  us  of  the  owner's  wealth,  but 
they  do  not  satisfy  our  instinctive  love  of  beauty  that 
comes  from  harmony  and  grace.  The  medley  of  riches 
in  the  show-rooms  of  a  first-class  auctioneer  is  some- 


limes  paralleled  in  wealthy  mansions. 

We  have  often  had  occasion  to  remark  that  the  orna- 
mental parts,  at  least,  of  articles  exhibited  in  the  Ameri- 
169 


in  many  cases,  have  received  an  artistic  education,  and 
always  have  been  surrounded  by  good  models,  and 
stimulated  to  unitate  their  excellencies  The  mention  of 
the  deficiency  points  out  the  remedy,  and  we  are  con- 


fident that  our  quick-witted  artisans  will  not  hesitate  to 
instruct  themselves  by  the  examples  furnished  by  the 
Exhibition. 


T  I  I  K 


INDUSTRY 


OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


Messrs.  J.  IIoui.ds worth  &  Co.,  of  Manchester,  England,  exhibit  a  variety  of  rich 
brocages,  Ac,  wliich  are  embroidered  by  machinery.  We  have  selected  for  illustra- 
tion upon  this  page  a  silk  banner  embroidered  in  gold  and  colors,  and  a  pattern  for  a 


ing  power  of  machinery. 
140  needles  as  easily  and  i 


Heilman's  machine  enables  a  single  female  to  manage  80  or 
ccurately  as  she  formerly  embroidered  with  one.    A  descrip- 


chair  worked  with  gold  thread  upon  a  velvet  ground.  Upon  the  opposite  page  we 
give  the  design  of  a  border  embroidered  in  gold  and  colors  upon  a  satin  ground. 

Embroidery  has  been  peculiarly  a  handicraft  art,  one  of  those  elegant  occupations 


lion  of  this  complicated  mechanism  may  be  found  in  Ure's  Dictionary  of  Manufacture. 
The  engraving  which  concludes  the  page,  represents  a  perforated,  or  openwork 


to  which  ladies  resorted  to  employ  their  leisure  hours.  But  within  a  few  years  the  I  Taz/.a,  from  the  Royal  Bkklin  Ibon  Foundry.  It  exhibits  the  wonderful  delicacy  nnd 
ingenious  invention  of  M.  Heiimail  has  brought  this  art  also,  within  the  multiply  |  perfection  of  casting  which  are  characteristic  of  the  productions  of  this  manufactory. 

170 


THE  NEW-YORK 


EXHIBITION 


ILLUS 


T  R  A  T  E  l>. 


The  small  dimensions  of  the  tazza,  the  complicated  nature 
of  its  ornaments,  and  the  exquisite  sharpness  and  fidelity 
of  their  outlines,  indicate  an  unusual  degree  of  fluidity  ot 


not,  open  to  public  inspection.  We  are  informed  by  an 
officer  of  the  United  States  Navy  who  visited  Europe  on 
a  Government  Scientific  Commission,  that  he  was  denied 
admission  here,  while  every  other  establishment  in  Ber- 
lin was  open  to  him.    This  tazza  also  deserves  attention 


the  metal,  and  unusual  skill  in  the  manipulation  of  it. 
The  cause  of  the  superiority  of  the  Berlin  castings  is 


for  its  artistic  merits;  in  particular,  for  the  skill  with  which 
the  graceful  forms  of  nature  have  been  modified  to  satisfy 
the  requirements  of  decorative  art.  In  this  respect  it. 
will  serve  as  a  useful  study  to  our  American  readers. 


variously  referred  to  peculiar  qualities  of  the  iron  and 
to  the  excellence  of  the  moulds.  But  whatever  the 
secret  may  be,  it  is  jealously  guarded,  and  the  works  are 


The  Lace  Handkkrcimef,  of  which  we  give  an  illus 
tration,  embroidered  in  lace-stitch,  is  exhibited  by  Susan 
G.  Waring,  of  New  Paltz  Landing,  New-York. 
171 


The  Casteb  engraved  on  this  page,  is  manufactured 
and  exhibited  by  Jamks  T.  Ami-,  Chicopee,  Mass.  The 
stand  is  silver  gilt,  and  the  bottles  are  cut  glass.  The 
workmanship  of  this  piece  is  excellent,  and  the  orna- 
mentation is  tasteful  and  appropriate. 

The  concluding  engraving  represents  a  very  elegant 


dress  Sword  exhibited  by  the  Amies  Man UJ/autu&ING  Com- 
pany, of  Chicopee,  Mass. 

This  sword  was  presented  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  according  to  a  resolution  of  Congress,  to 
Brigadier  General  Worth,  for  his  gallantry  and  good 
conduct  at  the  storming  of  Monterey. 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


The  elegant  porcelain  Vase,  which  we  here  introduce, 
comes  from  the  Royai.  Porcelain  Mam-factory  of  Her- 


turers,  Messrs  H.  <fe  A.  Abbowsmtth,  of  London.  The 
panels  contain  paintings,  covered  by  plate  glass,  which 


lin.  It  is  an  excellent  example  both  of  decoration  and 
form. 


The  carved  zebra- wood  Carinet  may  be  found  in  the 
English  Department.     It  is  exhibited  by  the  manufae- 


represent  the  different  phases  of  "Woman's  History."     I  the  Hope  Hose  Company,  of  Philadelphia.    This  is  an 
Our  concluding  engraving  illustrates  the  Cahriaoe  of  |  elegant  and  highly  ornamental  example  of  the  hose  car- 


nages in  use  among  our  public-spirited  firemen.  The  I  metallic  work  is  heavily  plated  with  silver,  and  some 
design  will  n  ads  by  Henry  McCully.     The  decorative  |  portions  gilt.    Its  capability  of  service  is  shown  by  be- 

1T8 


ing  in  active  use  for  three  months  before  it  was  placed 
in  the  Crystal  Palace. 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


Messrs.  JexxexsA  Bettridge,  to  whose  productions  we 
have  before  referred,  exhibit  also  the  Double  Chair  of 


papier  mache  here  illustrated.  The  broad  figure  repre- 
sented in  the  engraving  is  in  gilt. 


The  Pitcher,  executed  in  a  very  light  colored  terra 
•  otta,  is  contributed   by  J.   W.  Kuglek,  of  Guns,  in 


Hungary.  We  are  informed  that  the  rich  and  beautiful  I  of  the  artist.  The  design  represents  a  triumphal  proces- 
decorations  upon  it  were  wholly  modelled  by  the  fingers  |  sion  of  Bacchus,  attended  by  his  customary  followers. 


The  large  Library  Bookcase  is  exhibited  by  J.  Dessoir, 
of  New-York.    The  material  is  rosewood,  and  it  is  ex- 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


Messrs.  J.  F.  Browne  <fc  Co.,  of  New-York  and  London,  exhibit  an  elegant  grand, 
double  action  HabP.    No  commendation  of  ours  can  add  to  the  just  celebrity  which 

tfWIItollD 


the  instruments  of  these  makers  enjoy  in  the  musical  world,  for  sweetness,  purity 
and  power  of  tone,  and  finished  workmanship. 


Inkstand — is  here  eDgraved,  The  group  which  adorns  the  top  represents  the  triumph 
of  Amphitrite. 


The  following  engraving  represents  part  of  a  Design  for  a  State  Harness,  which 
is  exhibited  by  Joun  Penny,  of  London.    The  decoration  is  in  plated  metaL 


A  seven  octavo  Pianoforte  is  exhibited  by  S.  II.  Schomacker  &  Co.,  of  Philadel- 
phia.   The  rich  carving  which  covers  every  part  of  the  rosewood  case,  loses  in  part 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION    ILLUSTKAT1 3D. 


The  first  illustration  on  this  page  represents  Church 
Furniture — a  crucifix,  and  two  massive  candlesticks — 


We  introduce  another  example  of  the  elaborately 
carved  furniture  from  the  American   Department — a 


are  prolonged  to  form  the  supports.  The  ornament*  of 
this  work  in  the  ricocco  style  are  carved  boldly  and  in 
high  relief,  and  show  a  mastery  over  the  art.  fhe  ma- 
terial is  rosewood,  and  the  top  is  a  slab  of  white  marble. 
The  Bun  of  L).i\iel  Webster  in  marble  is  the  work 


of  Signor  Piatti,  the  Superintendent  of  Sculpture  in  the 
Exhibition.  The  features  of  our  country's  grtatest 
statesman  are  faithfully  reproduced. 

The  remaining  figure,  a  model  of  life  size  in  plaster,  is 


exhibited  by  G.  Nannetti,  of  Iiublin.  It  represents 
Venus  receiving  the  golden  apple  from  l'aris. 


such 
Cathol. 


as  is  employed  in  the  ceremonies  of  the  Roman  I  Centre  Table,  manufactured  and  exhibited  by  Jules 
lie  church.    These  articles  are  of  bronze,  and  are  |  Dessoir,  of  New- York.    The  top  of  the  table  is  in  form 


exhibited  by  the  manufacturers,  MM.  Villemsens  <!i  Co.,  I  an  octagon,  and  has  at  each  angle  a  caryatide  which 
of  Paris.  rises  considerably  above  the  top.    The  alternate  ones 

'  J  175 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


Wc  anticipate  our  large  selection  from  the 
contributions  of  Messrs.  Elkington  <Sc  Co.,  by  en- 
graving here  a  Dagger  in  a  richly  sulptured 


sheath,  copied  from  an  antique  specimen  of  me- 
dieval Italian  production.    The  tripod  Candle- 


stick is  exhibited  by  them  in  bronze,  and  in  silver 
and  gilt  electroplated. 


176 


The  engraving  in  the  centre — a  bronze  Street  Lamp — illustrates  how 


Rogers,  we  here  add  three  examples.  The  first 
is  an  Inkstand;  beneath  it,  a  Salt  Spoon,  very 


things  of  public  utility  may  be  converted  into  public  ornaments.  It 
was  designed  by  B.  Di  Bernardis,  of  Vienna. 


tastefully  cut  in  boxwood ;  and  the  third  is  an 


Orange  Cup,  the  designs  of  which  commemorate 


w.  rob r PI 


To  our  previous  illustrations  of  the  wood-carvings  by  Mr.  W.  G. 


events  in  the  career  of  William,  Prince  of 
Orange. 


THE   NEW -  YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


THE  FINE  ARTS. — SCULPTURE. 

IT  is  a  curious  speculation,  how  far  the  varieties  of  what  are  commonly  termed 
The  Fine  Arts,  are  exhausted  by  certain  modes  of  thought  and  consequent 
civilization.  If  we  mention  the  usual  classification  into  Architecture,  Sculpture, 
Painting,  and  Music,  it  is  impossible  not  to  see  that  we  have  indicated  a  kind  of 
progression.  If  Architecture  be  the  first  in  time,  and  dealing  with  the  heavier 
masses  of  matter,  so  it  represents  a  more  material  necessity.  If,  of  such  a  classifi- 
cation, Architecture  be  the  solid  foundation,  it  is  certain  that  Music  is  the  airy 
and  spiritual  completion,  and  if  it  be  related  to  the  rest  only  as  ornament,  it  is  that 
decoration  which  is  equally  essential,  with  all  other  parts,  to  the  perfect  whole. 
The  most  delicate  bloom  upon  Hebe's  cheek  is  the  sweet  result  of  her  most  bal- 
anced health,  and  is  then  purest  when  the  lowest  offices  of  the  animal  economy 
are  faithfully  fulfilled. 

There  may  be  found  something  fanciful  in  such  views  of  Art.  But  the  phi- 
losophy of  Art  passes  so  constantly  into  the  sphere  of  the  imagination,  that  it 
may  well  be  excused,  if  not  justified,  in  aiming  to  prove  what  seems  only  poetry 
(in  the  sense  of  beautiful  fiction),  by  the  cold  details  of  history.  And  it  is  the 
constant  tendency  of  history  to  reveal  certain  great  laws  in  the  development  of 
the  human  race,  to  which  all  art,  meaning  by  the  term  all  the  actual  result 
achieved  by  man,  may  be  referred.  The  lands  and  age  in  which  were  made  the 
first  efforts  of  what  we  will  call  the  Fine  Arts,  to  distinguish  them  from  the 
directly  and  palpably  Useful  Arts — the  primitive  character  of  Art  itself — its 
growth, — the  gradual  addition  and  incorporation  of  other  arts  occasioned  by  a 
higher  human  development — the  fact  that  Art  has  proceeded  by  successive  steps — 
that  while  each  variety  advanced  and  completed  itself,  the  progress  of  Art  was 
maintained,  but  in  another  form,  and  a  form  which  may  be  considered  of  a  higher 
spiritual  significance — all  these  truths  point  directly  at  the  conclusion,  that  Art, 
like  man,  advances  by  constantly  finer  varieties,  and  not  by  the  steady  and  con- 
temporaneous progress  of  all  its  forms. 

■When  Architecture  was  in  its  prime,  Painting  was  comparatively  unknown. 
In  the  great  era  of  Painting,  Sculpture  was  a  relic  or  imitation  of  the  past,  and 
Music  was  beginning.  Egypt  and  India  were  the  pioneers  in  civilization.  Their 
art  was  Architecture.  They  lay  at  the  base  of  history,  and  their  forms  of  Art 
were,  so  to  speak,  fundamental.  Shelter  is  the  first  absolute  necessity  of  man 
which  can  be  made  the  subject  of  treatment  as  a  Fine  Art.  Greece  followed. 
Grecian  civilization  was  the  flower  and  refinement  of  the  Egyptian.  Its  Art,  nat- 
urally, completed  the  earlier  Art.  Upon  the  foundation  it  reared  the  super- 
structure. With  Greece,  came  grace  adorning  strength.  The  ideal  of  the  super- 
nal powers  was  elevated,  and  the  expression  arose  in  due  degree.  The  rude 
blocks  of  Egyptian  Deities  were  refined  into  the  persuasive  grace  of  Grecian  Gods. 
Egypt  represented  brute  force,  the  foundation.  Greece  was  the  symbol  of  intel- 
lect, clothing  strength  with  grace.  The  qualities  of  character  it  commended  and 
nurtured,  belonged  to  heroism.  It  was  the  perfection  of  material  triumph. 
Hence,  as  man  is  the  type  of  informed  strength,  of  external  power  in  the  com- 
pactest  and  loftiest  form,  and  as  the  physical  proportions  of  man  best  represent 
the  kind  of  power  intended,  arose  sculpture.  It  was  the  natural  result  of 
the  spirit  which  inspired  and  created  the  advanced  civilization  of  Greece  as  com- 
pared with  Egypt.  The  same  advance  which  perfected  Architecture,  which  fluted 
the  column,  and  crowned  it  with  Doric  and  Ionic  grace,  of  which  only  the  suggestion 
occurs,  once  or  twice,  in  the  Egyptian  temples — this  naturally  led  to  the  finer 
architecture  of  the  human  form.  And  as  the  highest  general  Greek  conception 
of  divinity  was  that  of  the  perfection  of  obvious,  and,  in  such  a  state  of  society, 
necessary,  human  qualities,  the  Greek  genius  passed  from  the  lower  to  the  higher 
work,  and,  still  dealing  with  the  same  material  as  the  older  civilization,  of  which 
it  was  the  legitimate  child,  it  gave  the  highest  possible  success  to  that  material 
and  that  division  of  art.  The  rudest,  earliest  Egyptian  temples  of  Aboo  Simbel, 
and  elsewhere,  were  the  uncouth  and  distant  beginnings  of  the  Apollo  Belvidere. 
Out  of  so  strange  an  Egyptian  seed  bloomed  that  fair  Greek  flower ! 

It  is  necessary  to  remark  that  the  Greek  civilization  did  not  essentially  differ 
from  the  Egyptian.  Plato,  and  Solon,  and  Pythagoras  studied  in  Egypt.  The 
Greek  introduced  no  new  cardinal  idea  of  human  action  and  character  into  the 
world.  It  was  the  primitive  man  more  perfect ;  it  was  not  a  npan  so  differently 
developed  as  to  be  fairly  called  a  new  man.  Therefore  its  Art,  using  the  same 
material  and  means,  was  not  essentially  new.  And  precisely  as  Greece  may  be 
said  to  have  fulfilled  Egypt,  precisely  so  does  Sculpture  fulfil  Architecture.  It 
belongs,  if  we  may  say  so,  In  a  sense  which  the  context  will  explain,  to  the  mate- 
rial sphere.  There  was  painting,  indeed,  in  Greece ;  as  there  had  been  music  in 
Egypt.  The  interior  of  the  Parthenon,  and  the  drapery  of  statues,  were  colored ; 
and  there  are  supposed  to  have  been  Greek  pictures ;  there  are  certainly  remains 
of  such  at  Pompeii. 

But  the  earliest  paintings  which  indicate  any  sympathy  with  the  spirit  of 
which  Painting  was  the  peculiar  expression,  are  to  be  traced  to  the  decline  of 
the  Eastern  Roman  Empire,  and  were  posterior  to  the  introduction  of  Christianity. 

Egypt,  Greece,  and  Rome,  fell.  Then  arose  Papal  Rome,  the  only  externally 
organized  empire  of  Christianity  in  history.    A  new  idea,  a  new  sentiment  had 


been  introduced  into  human  life  and  character.  It  was  the  spirit  of  Christianity. 
It  is  not  to  be  denied,  that  thoughts  similar  to  the  principles  of  the  Christian 
preaching  had  appeared  in  philosophy  and  speculation.  But  the  principles  of 
Christianity  had  not  inspired  civilization  until  long  after  the  decline  of  the  old 
philosophies,  and  the  fall  of  the  empires  of  which  those  philosophies  justly  ex- 
pressed the  average  sentiment.  The  height  of  material  development  had  been 
achieved.  The  Egyptian  spirit  and  the  Greek  spirit  had  triumphed  in  Life  and 
Art;  and  the  forms  of  that  art  had  strictly  corresponded  to  that  material  devel- 
opment. Those  arts  would,  under  new  inspirations,  take  new  forms.  The  ques- 
tion is,  could  those  new  forms  be  more  than  adaptations  of  the  old  ?  Would  not 
the  new  spirit  instinctively  create  an  adequate  and  peculiar  form  ? 

The  answer  is,  the  art  of  Painting,  which,  in  illustrating  the  idea  of  Chris- 
tianity and  supported  by  tho  patronage  of  the  Christian  church,  readied  its  culmi- 
nation. The  new  ideas  were  spiritually  discerned.  The  qualities  of  character 
peculiar  to  it,  were  not  the  heroic  nor  those  which  can  be  best  expressed  by 
physical  prowess.  It  implied  something  more  than  the  beauty  and  grace  of  the 
Apollo  and  Venus,  something  subtler  than  the  wisdom  and  might  of  Jupiter  and 
Minerva.  Mythology  was  material,  in  comparison  with  the  spirituality  of  Chris- 
tianity. But  as  this  different  principle  implied  a  play  of  character,  a  variety  in 
unity,  arising  from  the  universal  sympathy,  which  is  the  soul  of.  Christianity,  its 
Art  must  be  susceptible  of  the  same  varieties  and  gradations.  A  Greek  God 
represented  the  completeness  of  one  attribute,  or  quality,  or  sentiment.  To  the  rep- 
resentation of  that,  form  was  quite  adequate.  But  the  representation  of  a  Chris- 
tian saint,  or  scene,  was  full  of  such  various  emotion  that  form  alone  could  not 
express  it.  Hence  color,  as  the  means  of  graduated  and  various  expression,  was 
added  to  form.  Thus  Painting  was  the  younger  sister  of  Sculpture  and  Architec- 
ture, and  as  no  new  element  of  human  conduct  or  life  has  been  actually  introduced 
since  the  Christian  Painting  reached  its  highest  historical  point,  in  the  fifteenth 
and  sixteenth  centuries,  therefore  since  that  period  it  has  been  either  a  repro- 
duction of  that  old  tradition,  or  a  simple  imitation  of  nature,  which  is  obviously 
a  lower  level  of  the  art. 

Music  seems  to  be  almost  too  exclusively  dependent  upon  a  caprice  of  Nature, 
in  furnishing  an  ear,  to  be  submitted  to  the  analogies  of  this  speculation.  Thus 
much  is,  however,  evident,  that,  in  the  degree  that  the  whole  tone  of  human  life 
has  become  elevated  by  obedience  to  the  Christian  principle,  has  music  matured, 
and  as  the  great  sculptors  had  declined  before  the  great  painters  arose,  so  were 
the  latter  gone  before  the  musicians  came.  Phidias  was  a  memory  to  Raphael ; 
and  Michael  Angelo  to  Beethoven. 

Yet  as  Philosophy  seeks  constantly  to  trace  relation,  and  dependence,  and  gen- 
eral unity  in  every  phenomenon  of  progress,  it  is  not  difficult  to  see  that,  as  Egypt 
founded  and  shaped  the  structure,  thereby  representing  Architecture,  so  Greece 
completed  it  and  adorned  it  with  ornaments  suggested  by  a  similar  spirit,  thereby 
representing  Sculpture ;  and  so  Italy,  with  a  new  inspiration  added  a  new  essen- 
tial in  Painting,  while  subtle,  Gothic  Germany  (following  the  image)  pours  through 
the  aisles,  and  past  the  statues  and  the  pictures,  a  torrent  of  music,  crowning 
with  speech  the  perfected  work  of  the  ages.  And,  clinging  to  this  general  idea 
of  sequence  in  unity,  it  is  a  favorite  thought  of  the  greatest  artists,  that  the  coni- 
pletest  work  of  Art  is  a  temple,  sculptured  and  painted,  in  which  music  wafts  a 
universal  anthem  of  worship  to  Heaven. 

The  theory,  shadowed  forth  in  such  a  speculation  upon  the  historical  surface  of 
Art,  is,  of  course,  that  certain  forms  of  art  are  peculiar  to  certain  periods  of  History, 
and  to  certain  degrees  of  development ;  and  that  whenever,  at  other  periods,  works, 
in  that  kind,  are  attempted,  they  can  only  be  successful  in  a  limited  degree ;  that, 
absolutely,  they  aim  to  do  what  has  been  already  done ;  and  that,  relatively,  they 
can  only  legitimately  represent  that  which  is  the  peculiar  subject  of  that  form  of 
Art,  but  which,  as  the  greater  includes  the  less,  still  exists  as  it  did  in  the  time 
when  it  was  the  chief  and  remarkable  aspect.  In  other  words,  that,  absolutely, 
such  attempts  are  partial,  or  aim  only  at  the  representation  of  a  part,  which 
part,  in  the  days  when  that  particular  form  of  Art  was  in  the  ascendant,  was  the 
whole ;  and  that,  therefore,  relatively,  that  form  of  Art  cannot  aim  to  embrace 
the  present  whole,  but  can  only  succeed  as  to  that  part,  which  is  only  one  divi- 
sion of  the  present  whole. 

This  can  be  made  clear,  we  hope,  by  an  illustration.  The  Greek  Venus  is  the 
symbol  of  perfect  material  grace  and  loveliness.  Now  at  a  time  when  that  is  the 
highest  ideal  it  can  be  perfectly  expressed  in  marble,  and  a  statue  is  made.  But 
now  let  us  suppose  the  Christian  Madonna,  to  represent  whom,  marble  is  obviously 
inadequate.  "Why  ?  Because  the  idea  of  the  Madonna  requires  a  spiritual  variety 
which  cannot  be  sufficiently  expressed  in  stone.  Yet,  as  the  highest  ideal  of 
womanhood,  it  necessarily  contains  that  lower  one  of  material  grace  and  loveli- 
ness, and  therefore  an  artist,  aiming  to  make  a  statue  of  the  Madonna,  could  only 
succeed  in  so  far  as  he  adequately  presented  that  lower  one.  But  in  view  of  the 
higher  ideal,  and  of  an  art  competent  to  express  that  height,  of  course,  in  repre- 
senting the  lower,  he  is  only  representing  a  part,  which  was  once  a  whole.  He 
is  aiming  at  an  old  result.  It  may  be  a  very  pretty  thing  to  do,  and  may  be 
done  as  well  as  in  the  old  days,  but,  in  view  of  the  high  requirements  of  Art,  it  is 
an  imperfect  success. 


THE    INDUSTRY  O 


F    ALL  NATIONS. 


This  may  be  seen  conversely  in  various  ways.  The  best  of  the  Venuses  of 
Painting,  are  those  of  Titian,  but  they  are  good  only  as  they  are  made  expression- 
less and  inane,  while  the  very  necessities  of  color  give  an  undue  prominency  to 
the  voluptuous  side  of  her  character ;  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  a  physical 
purity  of  expression  inherent  in  the  very  necessities  of  marble,  which  adapted  it 
to  the  Greek  purpose  of  representing  in  human  form  something  mysteriously 
beyond  the  human.  It  is  singular,  in  the  Tribune  at  Florence,  to  look  up  from 
the  Venus  de  Medici  to  the  Venuses  of  Titian.  It  is  like  glancing  from  Susannah, 
pure,  shrinking,  but  full  of  womanly  warmth  and  natural  passion,  to  Ninon  de 
l'Enclos.  In  the  same  way,  as  the  Venus  is  less  successfully  represented  in  paint- 
ing than  in  marble,  so  it  is  curious  and  important  to  observe  that  the  figures  of 
Christianity  are  very  imperfectly  presented  in  marble,  while  they  are  quite  perfect 
in  painting.  If  the  reader  will  remember,  he  will  find  that  there  are  no  great 
historical  and  satisfactory  statues  of  Christ  or  the  Saints,  and  for  the  reason,  we 
think,  before  stated. 

Looking  now  at  the  subject,  historically,  with  the  intent  of  ascertaining  if 
Sculpture  was  peculiarly  the  Art  of  Greece,  and  of  an  old  civilization,  what  do 
we  find  ? 

We  find  in  the  first  place,  that  no  other  nation  has  ever  created  a  new  style 
in  Sculpture ;  and,  secondly,  that  success  in  Sculpture  has  been  always  in  pro- 
portion to  its  reproduction  of  Greek  subjects  in  a  Greek  spirit. 

Old  Rome  had  no  Sculpture  worthy  the  name.  It  mistook  the  colossal  for 
the  grand,  and  has  left  us  various  enormities  in  stone  and  bronze.  When  the 
great  period  of  Painting  arrived,  in  modern  Italy,  many  of  the  chief  artists  being 
universally  accomplished  men,  could  chisel  statues  in  addition  to  painting.  We 
instance  Michael  Angelo  and  Raphael.  The  chief  work  of  the  latter  in  Sculpture 
is  preserved  in  a  church  at  Rome,  and  has  much  of  his  sweetness  and  grace. 
The  works  of  the  former  are  distributed  between  Rome  and  Florence :  and  his 
fame  is,  perhaps,  greatest  as  a  sculptor.  His  statues  are  among  the  remarkable 
works  of  Art.  He  made  allegorical  works  such  as  The  Night  and  Morning.  But 
as  successes  they  are  not  to  be  allowed.  They  are  full  of  grandeur  and  grace. 
But  they  fail  in  the  first  element  of  imitative  works  :  they  tell  no  story.  A  Greek 
would  always  recognize  any  image  of  any  god  he  knew.  A  Christian,  versed  in 
the  legends,  would  recognize  any  saint,  and  of  course  the  Christ  and  Madonna. 
But  what  observer  would  ever  know  what  the  figures  upon  the  Sarcophagi  in  the 
Florentine  Chapel  intended  ?  They  are  allegories  in  stone ;  so  far  as  the  purpose  of 
Art  is  concerned,  they  are  vague,  mental  chimera  in  marble ;  they  are,  in  truth, 
precisely  what  the  imagination  of  the  spectator  chooses.  In  his  Christian  Sculp- 
tures, the  Pietd  in  St.  Peter's,  for  instance,  and  others,  there  is  a  want  of  holy, 
spiritual  elevation,  a  triumph  of  physical  suffering  over  the  might  of  mind,  which 
degrades  the  subject.  His  best  work  in  Sculpture  is  the  sitting  statue  of  the 
Medici  (the  name  escapes  us),  in  the  Florence  chapel.  But  that  is  wrought 
strictly  in  the  Greek  spirit,  that  is  to  say,  in  a  spirit  of  simplicity  and  truthful- 
ness, aiming  to  give  a  portrait  of  the  man.  There  is  nothing  essentially  different, 
except  it  may  be  as  a  matter  of  mere  detailed  work,  in  the  statue  of  that  Medici 
from  the  old  statue  of  Demosthenes.  So  far,  it  is  only  an  imitation,  or  at  least  a 
reproduction.  The  Bacchus,  in  the  Uffizi  Gallery  at  Florence,  is  a  Greek  subject, 
treated,  therefore,  and  instinctively,  in  the  Greek  manner,  and  is  so  far  successful, 
that  it  might  be  accounted  a  genuine  old  Greek  sculpture.  Michael  Angelo's  suc- 
cess in  sculpture  was  in  proportion  to  his  following  the  Greek.  When  he  de- 
parted from  this  law,  he  fell  into  an  obscurity  of  which  he  seems  to  have  been, 
himself,  conscious,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  his  other  great  works  are 
mostly  unfinished.  It  is  as  if  he  felt  that  he  had  not  succeeded;  as  if  he,  who 
was  really  subject  to  the  new  inspiration,  were  struggling  to  express  himself  in 
the  forms  of  the  old,  and  was  therefore  compelled  to  leave  the  results  incomplete. 
That  which  he  failed  to  do  in  stone,  however,  he  did  triumphantly  in  color ;  and 
the  Sistine  Chapel  atones  for  that  of  Florence.  The  Prophets  are  as  grand,  in  a 
higher  kind,  as  the  Phidian  Jupiter. 

After  Michael  Angelo,  came  Bernini,  who  merely  caricatured  him.  Then, 
after  many  years,  Canova,  who  was  simply  and  purely  an  imitator  of  the  Greeks, 
to  whose  spirit  he  added  an  Italian  sentimentality,  both  in  choice  of  subject  and 
treatment.  He  is  of  no  especial  account  in  the  history  of  Sculpture,  except  that 
he  returned  much  more  nearly  to  the  Greek  purity  of  form  than  any  of  his  pre- 
decessors. Just  after  Canova  came  Thorwaldsen,  and  before  his  death,  Powers. 
There  were  of  course  other  men  who  pursued  Sculpture,  producing  busts  and 
statues,  and  succeeding,  both  in  making  pleasing  figures  and  in  securing  a 
temporary  reputation.  The  German  Schadow  is  to  be  mentioned  honorably 
among  them. 

Now,  in  walking  through  the  studios  of  Sculpture  for  the  last  hundred  years, 
what  do  we  find?  We  find  Greek  subjects,  mythological  and  historical,  treated 
in  the  Greek  way.  How  much  would  the  spectator  infer  from  such  a  view  that 
the  world  had  actually  advanced  about  two  thousand  years  in  time,  and  into  an 
entirely  new  spirit  of  Lifo  and  Society  ?  Is  there  any  thing  in  all  those  studios 
that  could  not  have  been  wrought  infinitely  better,  in  the  old  Greece  of  History  ? 

There  are  some  exceptions  to  this  statement ;  but  they  are  of  the  kind  that 
only  confirm  it.   Thus  it  may  be  asserted,  that  the  Christ  and  Apostles  of  Thor- 


waldsen are  certainly  not  Greek.  But  the  question  is,  Does  this  group  satisfy  the 
mind  to  the  degree  that  the  same  subject  in  Painting,  does  it  ?  For  instance,  is  it 
so  adequate  to  the  theme,  so  full  of  the  peculiar  spirit  of  Christianity,  as  Lionardo 
da  Vinci's  painting  of  the  Last  Supper?  Could  it  be  s6  adequate?  Is  it  not  limited 
by  the  very  nature  of  the  art  and  of  the  material  in  which  the  work  is  wrought? 
What  are  Thorwaldsen's  greatest  works  ?  The  Triumph  of  Alexander,  the  Mer- 
cury, Jason's  Conquest  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  the  Night  and  Morning,  the  Gany- 
mede, and  the  Christ  and  Apostles.  But,  while  the  Greek  subjects  are  only  infe- 
rior to  the  original  Greek  in  simple  grandeur,  for  no  sculpture  lias  yet  rivalled  the 
Elgin  Marbles,  the  Christian  is  inadequate.  And  it  is  so,  as  we  believe,  because 
Sculpture  is  an  art  peculiar  to  the  spirit  of  Greek  civilization,  and  therefore  per- 
fected by  the  nation  of  which  it  was  the  just  expression.  Thorwaldsen,  in  model- 
ling Christian  subjects,  merely  obeyed  the  spirit  of  the  time  in  which  he  lived. 
His  feeling  and  inspiration,  like  his  material  and  success,  were  Greek. 

If  we  consider  the  group  of  Christ  and  the  Apostles,  now  exhibited  in  model 
at  the  Crystal  Palace  (the  originals  stand  in  the  church  of  Notre  Dame  in  Copen- 
hagen), we  shall  find  that  their  excellence  is  an  excellence  peculiar  to  Sculpture, 
but  very  limited.  The  chief  figure  is  not  successful :  it  is  colossal,  which  is  an 
error,  because  the  sense  of  spiritual  superiority  is  lost  in  the  unnaturally  gigantic 
proportions.  The  attention,  as  is  necessary  in  the  very  nature  of  Sculpture,  is 
diverted  to  the  form,  to  the  external,  while  the  success  sought  is  internal  and  spir- 
itual. The  figures  of  the  Apostles  have  an  unavoidable  stiffness,  arising  from  the 
necessities  of  regular  grouping.  Sculpture  does  not  allow  that  distribution  which 
was  essential  to  the  subject.  Compare  with  this,  again,  the  Last  Supper.  In  the 
sculpture  the  face  and  attitude  of  each  Apostle  are  symbolical  so  far  as  is  possible. 
But  in  this  the  Sculptor  has  only  followed  the  tradition  of  Painting,  and,  by  reason  of 
his  material,  has  lost  much  of  the  effect  intended.  John  and  Paul,  the  body  and  soul 
of  the  Christian  law,  are  more  perfect  in  many  pictures  than  in  this  Sculpture. 

The  result  seems  to  be  that  Thorwaldsen  has  done  the  best  he  could  do  under 
the  circumstances,  but  that  the  greatest  success  was  impossible  with  such  means. 
He  has  only  copied  in  marble  what  already  exists  more  perfectly  in  color ;  and  it 
has  not  been  attempted  in  marble  before,  because,  with  a  new  sentiment  in  civili- 
sation, a  new  and  more  pliable,  and  therefore  more  adequate,  form  of  art  was 
introduced.  What  success  he  has  achieved  is  Greek.  The  purity  of  form,  the 
propriety  of  action  and  the  simplicity  of  expression,  are  Greek.  But  they  are 
only  Greek. 

If  we  turn  to  the  works  of  Powers,  we  must  confess  that  his  great  and 
undoubted  excellence  is  that  of  the  old  Greek  Sculpture.  He  shows  a  fineness  of 
detail,  an  elegant  elaboration,  which  is  not  often  found  in  the  antique,  which 
is  the  result  of  Yankee  shrewdness  and  mastery  of  the  means,  working  upon 
received  models.  Powors's  great  works  are  all  represented  at  the  Crystal  Palace : 
the  Greeh  Slave,  the  Eve,  the  Fisher  Boy,  the  Proserpine.  He  has  an  America 
and  a  California  under  his  hands  in  Florence.  The  extreme  beauty  of  these  fig- 
ures, their  delicate  grace,  and  the  exquisite  refinement  of  their  execution,  are  mat- 
ters of  the  history  of  Art.  They  are  much  superior  to  the  statues  of  Canova,  not 
only  in  workmanship,  but  in  purity  of  feeling.  There  is  something  meretricious 
in  the  works  of  Canova,  which  the  least  thoughtful  observer  detects.  What 
is  to  be  said  of  his  Venus  ?  What  of  the  Graces  ?  What  of  the  Eeoe  ?  They 
are  ballet-girls  and  dames  du  theatre.  They  are  not  the  visible  forms  of  an  ideal 
grace.  The  works  of  Powers  have  a  naturalness  which  is  strictly  Greek.  They 
are  figures  of  still  life.  They  represent  no  passion,  no  variety,  no  action  of  any 
kind.  The  face  of  the  Greek  Slave  is  pure  and  passionless.  It  is  as  beautiful  as 
the  usual  type  of  the  Greek  faces ;  but  it  has  not  the  subtle  and  searching  beauty 
of  the  Clylie.  It  is  external  in  sentiment,  if  we  may  say  so.  It  is  a  delicate  and 
successful  imitation  in  marble  of  a  young  female  form.  But  it  is  no  more.  The 
chain  upon  the  wrist  does  not  make  the  figure  a  slave.  We  look  in  the  face,  not 
at  the  hands,  of  a  slave,  to  feel  the  shame  and  the  indignation.  It  was  Byron's 
imagination  which  saw  the  rare  vision  he  has  immortalized  as  arising  from  the 
spectacle  of  the  Dying  Gladiator.  The  stone  only  represents  a  man,  wounded 
and  falling.  If  you  call  Mm  a  gladiator,  and  remember  what  the  fortune  and  fate 
of  a  gladiator  were,  then  you  will  feel  as  Byron  sang.  But  such  vague  and  gen- 
eral suggestions  are  to  be  regarded,  in  respect  of  the  success  of  a  work  of  art,  only 
as  the  imaginary  completion  of  the  Vatican  Torso.  Michael  Angelo,  looking  at 
the  Torso,  may  imagine  it  perfected  into  the  full  image  of  a  God  ;  but  it  is  not 
therefore  correct  to  say  that  the  Torso  is  the  statue  of  a  God.  The  truth  is,  that 
the  sculptor  who  made  the  Gladiator,  even  if  he  intended  a  gladiator,  which  is  a 
matter  of  grave  doubt,  did  not  mean  all  that  a  vivid'  imagination  could  supply, 
unless  it  be  asserted  that  every  work  means  all  that  it  can  mean  to  any  mind. 
This  may  be  true  in  strict  esthetics,  but  it  is  not  practically  correct,  because,  in 
such  a  case,  the  old  Byzantine  Madonnas  must  be  considered  equal  successes  in 
art  with  the  Madonnas  of  Raphael.  By  such  a  rule,  also,  the  face  of  Powers's 
Eve  must  be  admitted  to  a  triumph  as  complete  as  the  face  of  the  Sistine  Madon- 
na, for  they  are  undoubtedly  both  intended  to  represent  beautiful  women. 

Detailed  criticism  upon  the  sculptures  of  the  Crystal  Palace  is  rendered  some- 
what unnecessary  by  the  general  principles  we  have  suggested.  They  will,  we 
think,  be  found  fully  to  justify  those  principles.   If  we  turn  from  Powers  and 


THE    NEW  - YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


Thorwaldsen,  what  is  there  in  the  department  of  sculpture  but  a  series  of  various 
figures  imitating  various  actions  ?  The  veiled  statuary  is  only  a  pretty  trick  of  skill. 
The  Girl  Threading  a  Needle  is  a  "cunning"  and  pleasant  work.  The  eques- 
trian Washington  is  huge,  and  the  Webster  is  ludicrous.  The  famous  bronze  Am- 
azon of  Kiss  is  full  of  fire  and  a  wild  grace  ;  and  the  bronze  imitations  of  animals 
and  birds  throughout  the  exhibition  are  admirable ;  but  not  one  is  superior  in 
conception  or  workmanship  to  a  house  lizard  in  Dr.  Abbott's  Egyptian  museum, 
which  is  probably  twice  as  old  as  the  statue  of  the  Apollo  Belvidere. 

We  have  surveyed  the  sculpture  from  the  highest  standard.  It  is  our  belief 
that  Art,  which  is,  in  some  form  or  other,  contemporary  with  Nature,  is  suscepti- 
ble of  many  varieties.  That  some  one  of  these  varieties  culminates  with  every 
great  recognised  epoch  of  historical  civilisation,  is  peculiar  to  that  period,  and  is 
only  to  be  successfully  practised  in  a  subsequent  period,  in  a  limited  degree.  That, 
as  the  race  is  progressive,  so  Art  must  be ;  and  that  each  new  form  is  more  pliable 
and  expressive  than  each  of  the  preceding,  and  includes  them  .as  the  greater  in- 
cludes the  less.  That  all  forms  of  Art  are  mutually  related,  each  new  one  being 
superior  in  intent,  as  it  is  more  various  in  execution,  yet  that  all  are  necessary  to 
an  exhaustive  survey  of  history.  That  Egypt,  Greece,  and  Italy  (to  which  may 
possibly  be  added  Germany,  for  music),  represent  the  three  great  forms  of  Art 
hitherto  developed.  That  Egypt  was  the  fundamental,  or  the  architectural. 
That  Greece  was  the  fulfilment  of  Egypt,  in  laws,  manners,  religion,  and  life,  and 
that  consequently  Egyptian  Art  received  its  last  perfection  in  Greek  architecture 
and  sculpture.  That  Italy  was  the  seat  of  the  new  element  of  Christianity  in- 
troduced into  history,  and  therefore  produced  a  form  of  art  adapted  to  the  fit  ex- 
pression of  that  spirit ;  necessarily  more  subtle  and  various  than  the  preceding 
forms.  That,  in  illustration  of  this  theory,  history  shows  sculpture  to  have 
touched  its  prime  in  Greece,  that  all  subsequent  sculpture  is  successful  only  in  the 
degree  that  it  represents  ideas  peculiar  to  the  Greek  civilization,  and  therefore 
susceptible  of  a  Greek  treatment.  That,  consequently,  all  modern  sculpture,  by 
which  we  mean  all  since  the  Greek,  is  of  no  historical  significance,  and  bears  no 
intrinsic  evidence  that  it  was  not  executed  two  thousand  years  ago,  having  no  re- 
lation to  a  different  spirit  of  life,  and  that  when  it  has  aimed  to  represent  a  differ- 
ent spirit  it  has  signally  failed,  thereby  showing  its  inadequacy.  That,  in  the  same 
way,  contemporary  painting  is  merely  imitation  ;  that  it  constantly  reproduces  an 
old  6tory  in  the  old  wTay,  or  contents  itself  with  portraiture,  either  of  man  or  the 
landscape ;  and  this,  necessarily,  because  we  live  under  the  Christian  civilisation ; 
nor  can  we  iook  for  a  new  art,  until  some  more  universal  principle  is  deduced  from 
Christianity,  and  incorporated  into  the  life  of  the  race,  which  we  are  not  inclined 
to  believe  so  distant  as  some  other  things.  "  Good  will  to  man  "  is  practically 
organized  in  democratic  forms  of  government,  and  must,  at  some  time,  appear 
in  Art. 

In  the  necessary  limits  of  such  an  article,  which  we  have  already  surpassed, 
we  can  do  no  more  than  suggest  these  principles.  We  have  but  partially  applied 
them  to  the  sculpture  in  the  Crystal  Palace.  Let  the  reader  measure  the  paintings 
of  the  Exhibition,  by  them,  and  we  have  no  fear  that  he  will  find  a  different  result. 

We  cannot  farther  follow  the  thousand  interesting  thoughts  suggested  by  the 
discussion.  It  is  one  of  the  great  triumphs  of  the  Exhibition,  that  it  will  cause 
every  thoughtful  man  to  meditate  more  and  more  deeply  upon  a  subject  whose  re- 
lations, like  its  influences,  are  endless. 


ENGRAVING. 

H7HAT  typography  is  to  the  author,  engraving  is  to  the  artist.  The  relation,  of 
' '  Guttenburg  and  Faust  to  literature,  is  kindred  to  that  which  Finiguerra  and 
the  unknown  originator  of  wood  engraving  bear  to  art.  It  is  scarcely  more  pos- 
sible that  the  mass  of  mankind  should  form  an  intimate  and  familiar  acquaintance 
with  the  masterpieces  of  art  in  their  original  forms  of  statues  and  pictures  than 
the  world  should  read  Bacon  and  Scott  in  the  original  manuscripts  of  the 
authors.  Yet  the  value  of  art  is  almost  proportionate  to  the  diffusion  of  its  pro- 
ducts, and  to  the  existing  extent  of  culture  among  men  of  a  correct  and  refined 
capacity  for  appreciating  art-creations.  ,Not  only  do  the  pictorial  arts  contribute 
to  the  tasteful  enjoyments  of  life,  but  they  are  steadily  growing  to  be  the  habi- 
tual vehicle  for  an  immense  amount  of  knowledge  relating  to  architecture,  ma- 
chines, and  apparatus,  to  natural  scenery,  natural  history,  and  natural  philosophy, 
to  the  incidents  and  surroundings  of  social  and  domestic  life  throughout  the 
world,  to  the  events  and  accessories  of  history,  and,  indeed,  to  all  learning  which 
involves  external  forms,  whether  of  natural  or  human  origin.  So  readily  does 
the  mind  receive  knowledge  through  the  eye,  that  the  wide  prevalence  of  pic- 
torial illustration  deserves  to  be  ranked  among  the  most  powerful  aids  in  promot- 
ing its  diffusion  and  application.  Whether  viewed  economically,  socially,  mechan- 
ically, or  aesthetically,  a  high  aggregate  importance  most  rightfully  belongs  to  the 
numerous  and  rapidly  increasing  group  of  art  processes  having  for  their  common 
object  the  production  of  imitative  forms,  whether  actual  or  ideal.  Restricting 


ourselves  to  that  portion  of  these  arts  included  under  the  head  of  engraving,  and 
excluding  all  kinds  of  engraving  except  such  as  have  for  their  object  the  procur- 
ing of  ink  impressions  on  paper,  we  shall  still  only  find  it  practicable  briefly  to 
allude  to  the  more  important  processes  for  print  engraving  and  printing. 

The  origin  of  engraving  is  remote  and  obscure.  The  ancients  engraved  gems, 
seals  and  medals,  in  high  beauty  and  perfection.  But  engraving  for  printing  pur- 
poses dates  back  only  to  the  origin  of  wood  engraving,  which  is  believed,  though 
on  slender  evidence,  first  to  have  existed  in  China,  and  then  to  have  been  either 
transported  to,  or  invented  in  Germany,  as  early  as  1285;  so  obscurely,  however, 
that  a  rival  Italian  claim  to  its  invention  is  maintained,  though  no  record  prior  to 
1441  testifies  to  its  having  been  there  practised.  The  invention  of  movable 
types  would  appear  to  have  resulted  from  printing  engraved  wooden  blocks,  typo- 
graphical and  woodcut  printing  being  in  fact  essentially  one  discovery.  Though 
Germany  also  claims  the  origination  of  printing  from  engraved  metal  plates,  it 
appears  most  probable  that  there  were  two  distinct  discoveries  of  this  art,  and 
that  the  first  to  apply  metal  engraving  to  printing  was  Maso  Finiguerra,  a  gold- 
smith and  sculptor  in  Florence.  lie  practised  niello  work,  in  which  designs  are 
engraved  on  metal  plate,  vases,  &c,  the  engraved  lines  being  finally  filled  with  a 
black  fusible  mixture  of  silver,  lead,  copper,  sulphur,  and  borax,  which  brings,  out 
thedesign  strongly.  To  preserve  copies  of  their  designs,  niello  artists  were  wont 
to  fill  the  engraved  lines  with  black  earth,  and  run  over  them  a  layer  of  fused 
sulphur,  which  took  up  the  earth  and  thus  formed  a  species  of  impression.  Fini- 
guerra used  a  mixture  of  oil  and  soot,  and  substituted  paper  for  sulphur ;  thus 
originating  the  art  of  printing  engravings,  and  of  engraving  for  printing.  Hence, 
through  a  natural  progress,  the  art  has  advanced  by  successive  additions  to  and  per- 
fectings  of  its  methods  up  to  its  present  full  expansion.  Plate  engraving,  wood 
engraving  and  etching  attained  respectively  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection  in  the 
hands  of  Martin  Schoen,  and  Albert  Durer,  in  Germany,  and  of  Raiinondi,  in 
Italy,  early  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  dawning  history  of  engraving  shows  that 
a  higher  order  of  artists  applied  their  talents  at  the  first  to  developing  the  powers 
and  resources  of  the  graver  and  etching  point,  than  is  found  in  the  list  of  later 
masters  and  practitioners.  Albert  Durer,  Goltzius  and  Rembrandt,  in  Germany, 
Parmigiano  and  Delia  Bella,  in  Italy,  and  Callot,  in  France,  practised  engraving 
directly  on  plates  without  previous  painting,  and  many  of  the  most  spirited  modern 
etchings  are  drawn  first  on  the  plate.  Indeed,  the  power  with  which  lines  were 
used  by  those  early  master  hands  makes  the.  mere  dexterities  and  mechanical 
perfections  belonging  to  the  present  routine  of  engraviDg  practice,  appear  but  very 
unsatisfactory  substitutes  for  the  rough,  bold  vigor,  which  they  have  in  great 
part  superseded.  The  excessive  subdivision  which  now  restricts  each  engraver 
to  a  special  mode  of  working,  and  to  a  special  line  of  subjects,  while  it  exalts  the 
finish  and  style  of  execution  has  the  effect  to  cramp  the  engraver's  faculties,  and 
to  produce  in  his  work  a  confirmed  mannerism,  which  ignores  the  spirit  of  the 
particular  subject  in  hand,  and  prostrates  its  peculiar  significance  before  technical 
rules.  The  truly  good  engraver  unites  finish  of  style  wTith  a  soul  for  meanings, 
and  hence  knows  how  to  suit  each  to  the  other. 

The  arts  of  engraving  are  reducible  to  the  classes  of  engraving  in  relief,  and 
engraving  in  basso,  or  in  sunken  lines  and  points.  Zincography  and  the  several 
lithographic  processes  (except  stone  engraving),  present  'their  subjects  on  flat 
surfaces  without  enough  either  of  relief  or  depression  sensibly  to  affect  the  print- 
ing. Relief  engraving  is  chiefly  limited  to  the  two  styles  of  woodcuts,  in  one 
of  which  the  lines  of  the  subject  are  printed  dark  on  a  light  ground,  and  in  the 
other  they  are  left  light  on  a  dark  printed  ground.  Cerographic  lines  in  relief  are 
also  used  for  coarse  maps.  The  processes  in  which  the  parts  to  be  printed  dark 
are  cut  into  the  plate,  and  then  filled  with  ink  for  printing,  are  more  numerous. 
They  are,  copper  plate  line  engraving,  steel  plate  line  engraving,  stippling  or  dot 
engraving,  etching  copper  or  steel  through  a  laid  ground  or  coating,  aquatinting, 
mezzotinting,  and  lithographic  dry-point  engraving.  A  wide  difference  prevails 
in  the  mode  of  printing  relief,  flat  and  sunken  engravings.  Relief  lines  are  charged 
with  ink  by  merely  passing  the  ink  roller  over  them,  as  in  distributing  ink  to  an 
ordinary  type  form,  the  process  being  the  same  throughout  for  both,  except  that 
woodcuts  are  sometimes  printed  against  a  backer,  so  patched  or  underlaid  as  to 
throw  the  greatest  pressure  on  the  parts  intended  to  be  darkest,  while  the  lightest 
portions  are  relieved.  In  Zincographic  and  lithographic  flat  surface  printing,  the 
light  parts  require  to  be  wetted  between  successive  impressions,  as  the  water  coat- 
ing protects  the  lights,  while  the  printer  rolls  his  charged  ink  roller  over  the  lines, 
and  dots,  to  be  inked  and  printed.  In  printing  basso,  or  sunken  line  and  point  en- 
graving, the  method  pursued  is  to  roll  a  charged  ink  roller  over  the  face  of  the 
plate,  so  as  to  fill  its  depressions  with  ink,  the  plate  being  heated  to  facilitate  this 
end.  The  surplus  ink  is  then  wiped  from  the  plane  face  by  rags,  and  by  the 
palms  of  the  hands.  This  hand  wiping  enables  the  printer  in  part  to  regulate  the 
amount  of  ink  with  which  the  portions  of  the  plate  are  supplied  when  printed, 
and  the  control  over  the  shade  of  his  proofs  thus  obtained,  nothing  but  the 
hand  palm  has  yet  sufficed  to  give;  hence,  however  begriming  and  distasteful  this 
use  of  the  hands  may  be,  they  are  likely  always  to  continue  as  tools  for  fine  print- 
ing. When  the  wiping  is  completed,  the  "plate  is  laid  on  the  bed  of  the  press, 
covered  with  a  sheet  of  printing  paper,  and  drawn  by  a  crank  movement  under  a 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


cylinder,  which  subjects  it  to  a  pressure  so  powerful  as  to  force  the  paper  against 
the  ink  in  all  tho  engraved  lines.  Then  on  lifting  the  paper  from  the  plate,  the 
ink  adheres  to  the  paper  surface  in  ridges  and  peaks,  corresponding  to  the  cut 
lines  and  dots  of  tho  plate.  There  is  room  for  a  high  degree  of  skill  in  plate 
printing,  and  it  is  almost  as  rare  to  find  a  good  printer  as  a  good  engraver.  Not 
only  must  a  first-rate  printer  be  versed  in  all  which  concerns  paper,  inks,  presses, 
plates,  and  their  peculiar  workings,  but  he  must  have  sufficient  artistic  apprecia- 
tion of  his  subject  to  give  it  the  best  and  best  distributed  tone  of  shade.  This  in- 
dispensable adjunct  of  art  has  not  received  due  attention,  especially  among  our- 
selves, and  a  reform  of  this  neglect  must  be  achieved  before  the  best  American 
engraved  work  will  compare  favorably  in  proof  with  the  English,  French,  and 
Italian  products,  since  their  superior  printing  gives  an  important  vantage  ground 
to  their  artists  of  all  grades.  We  will  now  present  a  brief  synopsis  of  the  chief  en- 
graving processes. 

Wood  engraving  is  now  uniformly  executed  on  blocks  of  boxwood  cut  across 
the  grain,  into  slices  one  inch  thick,  and  planed  smooth  on  the  face.  Good  blocks 
are  characterised  by  a  uniform  yellow,  plane  surface,  while  the  prevalence  of  red 
or  white  colors,  of  knots  or  of  flaws,  indicates  inferior  blocks.  Blocks  of  from 
six  to  eight  inches  square  can  be  procured,  but  for  larger  subjects,  two  or  more 
can  be  joined.  An  important  improvement  or  revolution  in  wood  engraving  was 
effected  by  introducing  the  use  of  boxwood  blocks,  a  step  which  originated  in 
this  country.  To  the  superior  clearness  of  lines  given  by  this  wood,  and  to  the 
recent  wonderful  development  of  a  popular  demand  for  cheap  illustrations,  we 
may  ascribe  the  immense  increase  of  woodcuts  employed  during  the  last  twenty 
years.  The  fact  that  woodcuts  can  be  printed,  with  the  utmost  facility  on  the 
type  press,  enables  them  to  be  composed  with  letter-press,  and  worked  off  with 
the  forms  of  books,  magazines  and  newspapers,  in  almost  unlimited  numbers,  espe- 
cially as  either  stereotyping  or  electrotyping  can  be  resorted  to  when  desirable 
for  their  preservation  or  reproduction.  Preparatory  to  executing  a  design  on 
wood,  the  face  of  the  block  is  slightly  roughened,  and  then  covered  with  a  moist 
powder  of  Bath  brick  and  flake  white,  which,  when  dried  and  brushed,  offers  a 
fine  white  surface  to  receive  the  drawing.  This  is  either  drawn  in  pencil  on  the 
block,  or  is  transferred  from  the  original  drawing  by  tracing,  or  by  throwing  down 
its  ink  on  the  white  ground.  The  white  parts  are  then  cut  away  by  the  use  of 
gravers,  tint  tools  and  gouge  tools,  leaving  the  dark  lines  in  relief.  As  in  the  printing 
the  dark  masses  of  the  drawing  should  receive  the  greatest  pressure,  and  the 
lightest  lines  the  least,  the  surface  of  the  block  is  prepared  for  engraving  by  lower- 
ing slightly  according  to  a  traced  outline  the  parts  on  which  the  lights  are  to  fall. 
Then  the  ground  is  whitened,  the  drawing  on  it  made,  and  the  engraving  executed 
conforming  in  its  details  to  the  previous  lowering.  This  lowering,  which  makes 
the  block  complete  in  itself,  is  far  superior  to  the  method  of  patching  or  underlay- 
ing, which  it  is  superseding  ;  as  the  arrangement  of  underlaying  patches  to  regu- 
late pressure,  threw  too  much  on  the  printer,  and  was  lacking  in  delicacy  of 
adaptation. 

"Wood  engraving  has  two  modes  exactly  the  reverse  of  each  other.  Not  only 
is  wood  used  to  print  the  drawing  lines  in  black  or  from  relief,  but  it  is  employed  for 
printing  the  ground  in  black,  while  the  drawing  lines  being  cut  away  on  the  block, 
axe  left  white  in  the  impression.  The  latter  mode  is  exceedingly  effective  for 
outlines  and  mathematical  drawings,  to  which  it  gives  a  striking  relief;  it  is  also 
much  more  cheaply  executed.  It  is  growing  into  more  extended  use,  and  is  well 
exemplified  in  Bailliere's  Scientific  Series,  and  in  the  Crystal  Palace  Dome  Section 
given  in  No.  I.  of  this  Record.  Its  relation  to  common  wood  engraving,  is  the 
same  which  mezzotinting  and  aquatinting  bear  to  line  engraving  on  copper 
and  steel. 

So  important  is  wood  engraving  to  popular  art-culture,  that  it  should  be  sedu- 
lously cultivated,  for  improvements  both  in  its  processes  and  in  its  style.  It  is  far 
short  of  perfection  in  both  these  respects,  and  just  now  it  is  peculiarly  the  victim 
of  an  overbearing  demand  for  the  more  indifferent  styles  of  work.  It  is  much 
to  be  regretted  that  so  strong  a  tendency  now  prevails  among  us  to  multiply  en- 
gravings, which  in  all  points  of  style  and  meaning  are  beneath  criticism.  The  art 
thus  becomes  discredited,  and  the  better  class  of  artist  mind  turns  from  a  method 
so  prostituted  to  the  service  of  deformity.  It  would,  however,  be  more  wise  for 
some  real  artists  boldly  and  diligently  to  enter  on  a  better  practice  and  appli- 
cation of  wood  engraving,  and  the  present  time  seems  peculiarly  to  invite  the  en- 
listment of  some  more  masterly  minds  in  a  career  where  so  much  good  can  be 
achieved  by  raising  the  tone  of  popular  illustrations.  Not  only  distinction  but 
also  emolument  now  particularly  invites  to  this  career,  nor  need  one  scorn  to 
follow  in  the  footsteps  of  Albert  Durer.  Elements  of  power  abound  in  this 
art,  and  it  well  deserves  to  be  exalted  to  a  higher  rank  by  enlisting  that  eminent 
order  of  talent  which  adorned  its  glorious  dawn.  The  long  neglect  in  which  it 
had  lain,  gave  place  duriug  the  present  century  to  that  strangely  active  agency 
which  we  now  behold  in  the  London  Illustrated  News,  the  Art  Journal,  LTllus- 
tration,  and  numerous  other  instances  (we  might  specify  this  Record)  ;  an  activity 
which  must  go  on  increasing,  and  whiqh  will  fully  justify  every  effort  to  give  a 
higher  character  and  spirit  to  an  art  so  boundless  in  its  scope.  A  country  which 
can  claim  an  Anderson  and  an  Adams,  is  certainly  not  without  materials  for  the 


highest  practice  of  this  art ;  and  if  superior  woodcuts,  equal  to  that  from  Wil- 
kie's  Blind  Fiddler,  are  not  produced  here,  it  is  because  the  demand  has  been  so 
exclusively  for  petty  subjects.  Why  does  not  some  one  among  ns  try  the  ex- 
periment of  woodcuts  really  of  the  first  class  in  subject,  stylo,  and  dimensions  ? 
A  great  original  cost,  even  if  it  were  necessary,  would  be  amply  reimbursed  by 
an  extensive  popular  circulation  at  tho  lowest  remunerating  rates. 

Copperplate  engraving  has  perhaps  employed  the  very  highest  skill  in  the 
use  of  the  graver,  from  the  days  of  Martin  Schoen  to  the  present,  and  it  has 
been  the  means  of  producing  a  great  number  of  truly  noble  works  of  art.  Cop- 
per plates  for  engraving  require  to  be  very  pure,  and  are  planished,  or  hammered 
plane  and  polished  before  using,  so  as  to  give  more  hardness  and  uniformity  to 
the  surface.  In  copying  on  copper,  locating  squares  are  lightly  drawn  on 
its  face,  and  a  thin  coating  of  wax  is  spread  uniformly  over  it,  by  heating  the 
plate.  Then  the  drawing  is  traced  in  pencil  on  tracing  paper,  or  sheets  of  fish 
glue ;  the  tracing  is  then  reversed  according  to  the  squares,  with  its  face  on  the 
wax,  and  is  either  run  through  a  press,  or  the  pencil  marks  are  thrown  down 
by  hand,  so  as  to  effect  their  transfer  to  the  wax.  Then  with  a  point  these 
outlines  are  traced  through  the  wax  into  the  copper,  where  they  serve  as  a  guide 
for  all  the  engraver's  subsequent  cutting.  The  graver  is  employed  exclusively  for 
cutting  strong  lines  into  the  copper,  and  for  filling  in  the  details  tho  graver  and  dry 
point  are  used.  The  graver  point  is  a  rhomboid,  varying  in  its  angle  in  different 
gravers,  and  it  is  pushed  in  front  of  the  engraver's  hand.  The  scraper  is  a  three- 
edged  pointed  instrument,  used  for  scraping  off  the  burr  from  the  lines,  and  for 
erasing  by  hollowing  out.  To  beat  up  to  the  plane  of  the  face  the  hollows  made 
by  the  scraper  in  erasing,  a  small  anvil  is  used,  on  which  the  plate  is  held  while 
the  hollows  are  bumped  up  by  hammering  on  the  back.  The  burnisher,  a  round 
pointed  tool,  is  used  to  rub  out  light  lines  and  surface  inequalities.  The  ruling  ma- 
chine, an  invention  of  Mr.  Wilson  Lowry,  of  London,  is  used  for  ruling  in  with  a 
diamond  or  hardened,  steel  point,  the  parallel  lines  for  skies,  water,  and  uniform 
shading,  giving  great  delicacy  and  evenness  of  shade.  When  the  engraving  is  com- 
plete, the  burr  on  the  sides  of  the  engraved  lines  is  removed  by  the  scraper,  and 
the  plate  is  rubbed  over  with  coal  to  give  it  a  smooth  face  for  printing. 

Steel  engraving  differs  from  that  on  copper  plates,  not  in  the  tools  used  and 
the  methods  employed  in  their  manipulation,  but  in  the  manner  of  treating  the 
plates  themselves.  The  process  of  decarbonizing  and  recarbonizing  steel,  whereby 
it  is  made  soft  during  the  engraving,  and  then  hard  for  the  printing,  is  due  to 
the  inventive  mind  of  the  late  Mr.  Jacob  Perkins  of  Massachusetts.  About  thirty 
years  since,  he  matured  the  means  which  have  served  to  establish  a  very  general 
use  of  steel  plates  for  the  finest  class  of  subjects.  His  method,  for  which  ho 
procured  an  English  patent  in  1823,  is  briefly  the  following :  The  steel  plate, 
die  or  cylinder  which  is  to  be  softened  for  engraving,  is  imbedded  in  iron  filings, 
and  inclosed  in  a  strong  tight  iron  box.  For  about  four  hours  this  is  exposed  to 
a  white  heat,  which  deprives  its  surface  layer  of  a  portion  of  its  carbon,  in  fact 
thus  rendering  it  essentially  soft  iron,  on  which  the  graver  works  with  a  facility 
approaching  that  of  copper  engraving.  When  the  engraver's  work  is  done,  the 
hardening  or  recarbonizing  is  effected  by  bedding  the  plate  in  a  close  iron  box 
filled  with  pulverized  charcoal  derived  from  leather  by  dry  distillation,  and  then 
heating  the  whole  to  white  heat  for  a  time,  proportionate  to  the  thickness  of  the 
plate.  Then  the  plate  is  withdrawn,  and  tempered  by  plunging  into  cold  water, 
a  process  requiring  for  its  practice,  trained  skill  to  guard  against  cracking,  warp- 
ing, and  imperfect  temper.  This  results  in  giving  a  degree  of  hardness  which 
enables  the  plate  to  furnish  a  very  great  number  of  perfect  impressions,  thus 
presenting  a  most  important  advantage  over  copper  for  standard  engravings. 
Whereas  copper  fails  in  from  1000  to  3000  impressions  of  good  work,  and  6000 
for  the  coarsest,  a  steel  plate  often  will  give  over  50,000  impressions  even  of 
good  engravings,  and  over  100,000  for  the  coarser  species  of  work  as  school 
atlases.  On  the  whole,  steel  is  capable  of  rather  finer  work  than  copper,  though 
its  engraving  costs  from  a  third  more  to  double  that  of  the  same  subject  on 
copper. 

Mr.  Perkins  also  invented  the  process  and  the  press  used  for  multiplying 
copies  of  steel  engraved  plates.  Fortius  purpose  he  used  rollers  of  soft  decar- 
bonized steel,  which  are  by  the  press  rolled  over  the  engraved  plate  under  so 
strong  a  pressure  as  to  force  the  soft  steel  into  the  lines  of  the  engraving,  thereby 
presenting  on  the  cylinder  a  raised  direct  copy  of  the  engraved  subject,  which 
being  duly  hardened,  is  made  in  turn  to  stamp  its  lines  into  a  new  softened  plate. 
Thus  from  a  single  engraving,  an  infinity  of  impressions  can  be  procured.  Unfor- 
tunately the  pressure  required  is  so  great  as  to  prevent  the  application  of  the 
press  to  any  except  small  designs.  It  is  peculiarly  applicable,  however,  to  bank 
notes ;  for  by  its  agency,  the  heads,  vignettes,  ornamental  figures,  &c,  of  a 
bank  note  can  be  readily  repeated  in  perfect  identity  on  the  same  plate,  so  as  to 
permit  the  printing  of  a  bill  in  sheets  of  four  and  six  copies  at  a  time,  with  but 
little  extra  cost  for  engraving  after  the  first  copy.  Thus  skill,  without  restriction 
of  expense,  is  bestowed  on  the  elements  of  bank  notes,  as  these  can  be  used  not 
only  in  the  several  copies  on  one  plate,  but  in  various  combinations  for  different 
plates,  and  even  for  different  banks.  The  very  best  engravers  in  this  country 
are  thus  employed,  as  may  be  seen  by  inspecting  tho  specimens  of  bank  note 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


engraving  exhibited  at  the  Crystal  Palace;  a  fact  which  affords  an  excellent 
check  on  counterfeits.  Some  of  these,  and  other  American  engravers,  rank 
very  high  in  their  profession,  though  unfortunately  there  rarely  happens  to  these 
artists,  an  opportunity  of  applying  their  talents  to  those  great  works  indispensa- 
ble for  an  established  reputation. 

Stippling  is  a  peculiar  species  of  engraving,  in  which  effects  are  produced 
solely  by  the  use  of  dots,  or  indented  points,  made  either  with  the  graver,  the 
point,  or  by  etching.  The  graver  dots  or  holes  in  the  plate  are  angular,  and  those 
made  by  the  dry  point  and  etching  needle  are  circular.  Their  grouping  and 
degree  of  crowding,  regulate  both  Ihe  lines  of  the  subject  and  its  distribution  of 
light  and  shade.  The  heaviest  shades  are  produced  by  condensing  the  dots,  and 
by  opening  them  out,  the  gradation  into  white  may  be  realized  in  the  softest  and 
most  delicate  manner.  Stippling  can  be  used  with  exceedingly  beautiful  effect  in 
rounding  the  arms,  cheeks,  and  other  swelling  parts  of  the  human  figure,  and 
especially  in  copying  the  soft  lights  of  statuary.  It  is  also  well  adapted  to  vig- 
nettes and  flowers.  This  method  of  engraving  dates  back  to  the  beginning  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  and  was  revived  with  much  improvement  near  the  end 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  English  have  acquired  a  very  marked  superiority 
in  this  style,  and  many  fine  instances  of  its  use  may  be  seen  in  the  Art  Journal. 
Ryland  and  Bartolozzi  are  names  of  special  distinction  in  this  field.  In  arranging 
the  dots,  they  are  placed  with  some  regularity  in  curved  lines,  as  a  random  order 
of  location  would  give  a  patched  and  rough  look  to  the  tints.  The  dots  being 
made  by  the  graver  or  dry  point,  burrs  or  swellings  are  raised  around  the  rim  of 
each  indentation.  This  prevents  the  completion  of  the  dotting  at  once,  and 
makes  it  necessary  to  use  the  scraper  for  removing  the  burr,  when  dots  are  again 
interpolated.  Several  scrapings  of  the  burr  may  be  necessary.  Sometimes  in 
stippling,  a  roulette  or  mounted  spur-wheel  is  used  for  running  in  dots,  but  it  is 
rather  an  unmanageable  tool  for  this  purpose,  and  not  proper  for  the  best  work. 
The  required  effects  are  governed  by  the  size,  and  placing  or  condensation  of  the 
dots,  and  the  good  management  of  these  two  elements  demands  all  the  skill  of  the 
engraver.  Stippling  is  a  slow  and  very  costly  mode  of  engraving,  nor  can  it  be 
appropriately  used  except  in  subjects  where  a  peculiar  softness  of  effect  is  desired. 
The  Opus  Mallei  species  of  work  hardly  constitutes  a  distinct  style  of  engraving, 
nor  is  it  much  used.  It  belongs  to  the  seventeenth  century,  and  was  first  prac- 
tised by  James  Lutma.  It  is  executed  with  a  minute  chisel,  or  a  short  and  sharp 
point,  which  is  struck  by  a  small  hammer.  It  is  chiefly  restricted  to  harmonizing 
designs  already  etched  or  drawn. 

Etching  is  a  general  name  for  all  the  methods  of  engraving  on.  metals  or 
glass  by  the  use  of  acids.  More  definitively  it  is  the  mode  of  engraving  by  laying 
a  protecting  ground  over  the  surface  of  a  plate,  and  drawing  through  this  ground 
with  a  needle  or  etching  point  the  lines  of  the  design,  which  by  the  application 
of  an  acid,  are  bitten  into  the  plate  elsewhere  protected  by  the  ground  layer. 
Albert  Durer  is  supposed  to  have  invented  the  art  of  etching,  as  his  works  are 
the  earliest  in  which  its  use  is  traceable.  It  has  been  practised  by  many  first-class 
artists,  though  the  palm  of  highest  excellence  is  conceived  to  be  due,  at  least  in 
the  architectural  department,  to  Piranesi,  a  Venetian,  who  died  in  1770.  Etching 
is  used  either  for  the  entire  completion  of  engravings,  or  the  stronger  etched  lines 
are  retouched  by  the  graver,  and  the  irregularities  of  other  etched  lines  are  in 
like  manner  removed.  Stippling  is  also  executed  by  the  needle  on  etching 
ground,  and  then  bitten  in.  The  use  of  the  etching  needle  bears  a  close  relation 
to  drawing  with  the  pen  or  hard  pencil,  and  the  lines  of  etching  have  that  free 
flowing  character  which  the  graver  cannot  realize.  Etching  has  some  points  of 
decided  advantage  over  the  graver,  and  some  as  decided  inferiorities,  especially  in 
the  unevenness  of  the  acid  action  and  the  consequent  raggedness  of  its  lines. 
Hence  a  combination  of  the  two  is  very  much  employed,  in  which  the  graver 
superadds  its  own  excellencies  to  the  ease  of  the  etching  needle. 

The  ground  composition  is  a  mixture  of  asphaltum,  Burgundy  pitch  and  bees- 
wax, which  is  formed  into  a  ball,  and  enveloped  in  a  silk  cover  for  use.  It  is 
applied  by  rubbing  it  over  the  heated  plate,  and  is  smoked  with  a  taper  to  make 
the  drawing  apparent.  A  soft  ground  is  also  sometimes  used  for  etching,  in 
imitation  of  chalk  drawings.  The  hard  ground  composition  is  mixed  for  this 
purpose  with  mutton  suet  or  lard,  and  over  this  oft  ground  a  sheet  of  thin 
paper  is  stretched.  The  drawing  is  then  made  on  this  paper,  and  when  it  is 
removed,  it  lifts  off  by  adhesion  the  soft  ground  from  the  plate  where  the  lines 
and  shading  strokes  fell,  so  that  on  etching  an  imitation  of  the  drawing  results. 
When  a  drawing  on  a  hard  ground  is  completed  with  an  etching  needle  or  a  point,  it 
is  inclosed  in  a  ridge  of  bordering  wax,  and  a  solution  of  nitric  acid  is  poured  on. 
This  attacks  the  metal  through  the  lines,  and  an  effervescence  results,  the  bubbles 
of  which  are  carefully  brushed  from  the  plate  by  a  soft  brush  or  feather.  When 
the  biting  in  has  progressed  as  far  as  required  by  the  lightest  work,  the  acid  is 
poured  off,  and  these  parts  are  coated  with  varnish,  or  stopped  out  as  it  is  called. 
The  biting  is  then  renewed,  and  the  stopping  out  extended  as  often  as  required 
for  the  best  effect  in  the  engraving.  Then  the  plate  is  cleaned,  retouched  by 
the  graver,  and  the  bordering  and  lettering  added.  Both  copper  and  steel  are 
extensively  engraved  by  etching,  the  process  being  much  the  most  rapid  on 
steel. 


Aquatint  engraving  was  invented  about  1662,  in  France,  by  St.  Nou,  and 
was  introduced  into  England  by  Paul  Sandby.  It  has  been  practised  in  England 
witli  much  better  success  than  elsewhere,  and  is  among  the  important  facilities 
to  art  publication.  Its  effect  is  similar  to  that  of  India  ink  or  sepia  drawing,  and 
it  is  much  used  for  good  works  which  are  to  be  colored.  The  outline  being 
drawn  or  etched  very  lightly  on  the  plate,  it  is  polished,  and  prepared  for  laying 
the  ground.  This  is  laid  by  pouring  a  solution  of  resin  in  spirits  of  wine  over  the 
surface  of  the  plate  placed  slightly  sloping,  until  the  whole  surface  is  covered, 
when  the  plate  is  quickly  turned  to  a  horizontal  position.  The  spirits  of  wine 
rapidly  evaporates,  leaving  the  resin  in  a  granulated  form  on  the  plate,  and  pro- 
ducing a  minute  network  of  open  lines,  through  which  the  acid  can  reach  the 
plate.  The  quality  of  the  graining  is  affected  by  the  strength  of  the  resinous 
solution,  the  quantity  applied,  the  slope  of  the  plate,  and  the  time  during  which, 
it  stands  aslope  after  the  solution  is  poured  on.  The  ground  being  prepared,  the 
next  process  is  the  stopping  out,  as  it  is  called,  or  the  laying  of  a  varnish  on  the 
lights  to  be  protected  from  the  acid.  The  margin  and  tho  white  lights  are 
stopped  out  before  the  first  etching  takes  plaoe;  and  then  this  proceeds  until  the 
biting  has  progressed  far  enough  to  give  the  lowest  tone  of  shade,  when  it  is 
arrested,  and  the  stopping  out  is  extended  to  all  shades  of  this  class.  By  repeat- 
ing this  process  the  heaviest  shades  are  produced  at  last,  and  tho  plate  is  finally 
cleaned.  Then  the  scraper  is  applied  to  bring  out  the  lights  when  requisite,  and 
the  burnisher  is  used  for  softening  down  tho  joinings  of  the  successive  shades,  and 
for  toning  down  such  parts  as  come  out  too  dark.  Much  care  and  skill  aro  required 
for  the  successful  practice  of  biting  in,  while  the  stopping  out  requires  the  same 
qualities  in  the  artist  as  water-color  painting.  Much  diversity  of  practice  pre- 
vails among  different  engravers  in  the  details  of  aquatinting,  and  on  the  whole, 
this  species  of  work  is  capable  of  producing  the  finest  or  the  very  worst  effects, 
according  to  the  skill  exercised  in  its  practice. 

Mezzotinting  was  invented  in  1611,  by  Louis  Siegen,  or  by  Prince  Rupert,  or  by 
Sir  Christopher  Wren,  for  each  of  whom  claims  are  advanced.  It  has  been  most 
successfully  practised  in  England,  and  it  is  very  advantageously  applied  to  night 
scenes,  or  other  subjects  demanding  a  dark  ground,  for  which  it  approaches  tho 
effect  of  oil  paintings.  Mezzotint  plates  unfortunately  wear  out  very  rapidly, 
generally  giving  only  about  200  good  impressions,  though  the  facility  with  which 
they  are  engraved  in  part  compensates  for  this  defect.  It  is  also  difficult  to 
print  mezzotints  well,  though  a  successful  impression  has  a  peculiar  power  of 
light  and  shade,  which  no  other  style  possesses. 

The  mode  of  engraving  is  quite  peculiar.  First  of  all,  the  whole  surface  of  the 
plate  is  so  filled  with  intersecting  cuts,  that  it  will  print  a  uniform  strong  black 
tint.  This  is  done  by  rocking  with  the  hand  backwards  and  forwards,  under  a 
slight  pressure  and  over  the  entire  plate,  a  cutting  grounding  tool  or  sharp-edged 
segment ;  then  lines  are  thus  cut  crosswise,  and  again  diagonally.  Thus  the  sur- 
face is  thoroughly  worked  over  and  covered  with  intersecting  lines,  which  give 
a  black  impression.  Grounds  are  sometimes  prepared  by  etching  and  by  dotting 
with  the  roulette.  Rembrandt  so  cross-ruled  etching  grounds  as  that  the  plate 
printed  black.  We  have  seen  a  tint  produced  by  printing  from  the  parallel  ruling 
by  a  machine,  which  was  so  delicate  that  the  naked  eye  could  scarcely  detect  the 
lines ;  and  this,  if  cross-ruled,  would  have  given  an  exquisite  dark  ground. 
Saulnier  has  applied  a  special  machine  to  mezzotint  grounding,  and  ready 
grounded  plates  are  now  an  article  of  regular  trade  supply.  On  the  ground, 
however  prepared,  the  drawing  outline  is  transferred  and  traced  with  the  etching 
needle,  and  the  lights  are  then  produced  by  scraping  out  the  ground  with  the 
scraper,  and  by  smoothing  it  down  with  the  burnisher.  The  extent  to  which  the 
ground  is  removed,  measures  the  light  which  will  result  in  the  print.  The  en- 
graver has  for  his  task  to  produce  strong  lights  by  entire  erasure,  medium  lights 
by  moderate  burnishing,  and  to  preserve  the  original  ground  for  deep  shades. 
Thus  mezzotinting  and  aquatinting  are  like  dark  ground  wood-cutting,  in  the 
fact  of  engraving  the  lights,  and  leaving  the  shades. 

Engraving  on  stone  is  much  used  for  maps,  botanical  illustrations,  and  mecha- 
nical drawings.  These  are  cut  into  the  stone,  just  as  they  would  be  into  metal, 
by  using  a  dry  point.  Stone  engravings  are  rather  hard  to  print,  though  they 
can  be  readily  transferred  on  to  a  flat  stone  surface,  and  printed  like  other  litho- 
graphic work.  Stone  engraving  cannot  be  made  as  fine  as  metal  engraving, 
though  excellent  work  of  certain  kinds  can  thus  be  done. 

We  have  now  presented  a  synopsis  of  tho  chief  modes  of  engraving,  though 
some  other  processes  have  been  tried  which  might  have  been  added.  Specimens 
in  the  various  styles  described  are  exhibited  in  the  Crystal  Palace,  some  of  which 
are  highly  honorable  to  art  and  to  their  authors.  They  are  distributed  through- 
out the  building,  and  in  a  great  variety  of  forms,  from  the  gigantic  ordnance 
maps  to  "  The  Homes  of  American  Authors."  Specific  criticism,  even  though  it 
were  our  object,  would  be  in  great  part  baffled  by  the  lack  of  salient  subjects,  on 
which  to  concentrate  attention.  In  matters  so  directly  addressed  to  the  eye  as 
engravings  are,  the  critic  will  hardly  make  the  spectator  see  more  or  less  than  he 
would  of  his  own  accord.  But  the  processes  on  which  we  have  dwelt,  are  not 
thus  obvious  to  the  senses,  and  this  synopsis  may  therefore  be  of  service  in  giving 
desired  information,  and  of  thus  contributing  a  new  element  of  interest. 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


ORNAMENTAL  FURNITURE. 

FURNITURE  is  made  to  be  used ;  or,  perhaps  it  were  better  to  say  that  it 
should  be  made  for  use.  A  couch  upon  which  you  cannot  lie,  a  table  from 
which  you  cannot  eat,  a  chair  upon  which  you  cannot  sit,  might  better  not  bo 
made  at  all.  No  matter  what  their  richness  of  material,  their  beauty  of  form,  or 
exquisiteness  of  workmanship,  such  articles  cumber  instead  of  furnishing  the 
place  in  which  they  are.  The  most  comfortable  chair  or  bed  is  the  best ;  and  so 
the  most  convenient  table,  or  wardrobe,  or  writing  desk  is  the  best,  and,  in  the 
highest  sense,  the  most  beautiful ;  for  it  will  have  a  beauty  of  fitness,  the  lack  of 
which  is  utterly  fatal  to  the  enjoyment  of  any  other  beauty.  Let  the  form  of  a 
couch  be  essentially  inconsistent  with  the  idea  of  repose,  and  if  it  were  covered 
with  carving  by  Buhl  or  Grinlin  Gibbons,  it  would,  as  a  couch,  not  be  beautiful; 
because  the  mind  of  the  thoughtful  observer,  he  who  can  justly  appreciate  beauty, 
would  be  filled  with  dissatisfaction  and  annoyance  at  the  incongruity  of  the  de- 
sign of  the  object  with  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  intended ;  to  say  nothing  of 
his  ever  present  consciousness  of  the  individual  discomfort  which  would  certainly 
eusue  if  he  were  himself  compelled  to  prove,  in  his  own  proper  person,  the  fitness  of 
the  thing.  Usefulness,  therefore,  fitness,  or,  in  other  words,  the  combination  of 
convenience,  ease,  and  propriety,  is  the  first  and  highest  qualification  of  furniture, 
as  well  as  of  every  other  object,  the  chief  function  of  which  is  not  to  give  pleasure 
to  the  mind  through  the  eye.  Beauty  of  form  is  of  secondary  importance ;  but  so 
far  is  it  from  being  inconsistent  with  the  first,  that  it  will  invariably  be  found  that 
those  designs  which  are  most  beautiful  in  furniture,  are  those  which  are  best 
adapted  to  the  uses  to  which  the  various  articles  included  in  that  term  are  to  be 
put.  Elaborate  workmanship  and  sumptuous  materials  are  severally  of  third 
and  fourth  rate  consequence.  The  former,  indeed,  may  degrade  a  beautiful  de- 
sign by  belittling  it  with  painfully  wrought  trivialities ;  and  the  latter,  by  its 
unsuitableness,  may  fail  to  awaken  that  feeling  of  content  and  freedom  from  care 
which  is  tho  first  office  of  every  article  of  household  use.  Added  to  these 
requirements,  there  is  a  certain  harmony  of  place,  if  we  may  so  call  it,  which  has 
much  to  do  with  the  power  of  furniture  to  awaken  ideas  of  comfort  and  pleasure. 
An  intrinsically  beautiful  article  may  be  a  pleasant  object  in  one  place,  and  in  an- 
other, unpleasant  and  ridiculous.  A  chair,  for  instance,  which,  standing  in  West- 
minster Abbey  for  the  use  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  would  be  impos- 
ing, and  from  its  harmony  with  the  place,  would  awaken  a  feeling  of  admiration 
tinged  with  solemnity,  if  transferred  to  the  boudoir  of  his  Grace's  daughter,  would 
excite  only  our  ridicule,  mingled  perhaps  with  a  little  of  the  terror  which  would  be 
felt  in  a  nursery  upon  the  entrance  of  a  very  magnificent  giant.  So  a  buffet,  well 
suited  to  the  hall  of  a  Norman  Castle,  or  English  Manor-house,  would  only  over- 
whelm and  crush  all  its  surroundings  if  transferred  to  a  '  third  room '  on  the  Fifth 
Avenne.  These,  then,  in  their  order  of  importance,  are  the  considerations  which 
should  influence  the  selection  of  furniture,  and  which  will  guide  us  in  a  brief  exam- 
ination of  such  ancient  and  modern  examples  as  will  afford  a  comprehensive  view 
of  the  subject  from  the  earliest  ages  to  the  present  day : — fitness  of  form,  beauty 
of  outline,  design  and  finish  of  ornament,  richness  of  material,  and,  as  kindred 
with  the  first,  and  of  equal  importance  with  beauty  of  outline,  though  not  having 
to  do  with  intrinsic  fitness  or  beauty, — adaptation  to  place. 

It  would  be  a  difficult,  and  by  no  means  a  profitable  task  to  inquire  when  fur- 
niture first  was  used.  Chairs  probably  came  into  vogue  about  the  time  when 
people  first  began  to  sit  down.  Indeed,  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  Adam  chose  carefully 
two  of  the  softest  stones  in  Paradise  for  the  use  of  himself  and  Eve,  and  that  in 
them  we  are  to  acknowledge  the  primitive  type  of  the  chair.  "We  name  the  chair 
first,  because  its  accommodation  is  that  which  nature  first  demands ;  and,  indeed, 
according  to  the  Monboddian  theory,  this  article  of  furniture  has  greatly  modified 
the  external  appearance  and  even  the  destinies  of  mankind.  For  if  man  be  only 
a  monkey  whose  tail  has  been  worn  off  by  constant  sitting,  the  chair  may  cer- 
tainly be  regarded  as  the  proximate  cause  of  the  existence  of  the  human  species 
— as  such.  Tables,  without  a  doubt,  soon  followed  chairs  as  a  support  for  food. 
Milton  is  the  source  of  much  of  the  orthodox  theology  of  the  day  :  why  may  he 
not  be  admitted  as  authority  upon  all  the  subjects  of  which  he  sang?  He  assures 
us  that  both  tables  and  chairs  formed  a  part  of  Eve's  establishment  in  Eden. 
When  she  entertained  Raphael  in  her  "sylvan  lodge  with  flowerets  deck'd  and 
fragrant  smells,"  Milton,  with  praiseworthy  particularity,  tells  us, 

"  Raised  of  grassie  terf, 
Thir  Table  was,  and  mossie  seats  had  round." 

The  form,  it  seems,  was  quadrilateral ;  for  the  poet  continues : 

"And  on  lier  ample  Square  from  side  to  side 
All  Autumn  pil'd ;  though  Spring  and  Autumn  here 
Danc'd  hand  in  hand." 

A  square  is  not  the  best  shape  for  a  table,  neither  is  grassy  turf  a  suitable  ma- 
terial for  the  support  of  hot  soup  or  beefsteak  fresh  from  the  coals.  Of  this  un- 
fitness of  Eve's  furniture  for  modern  uses,  Milton  seems  to  have  been  fully  con- 
scious ;  for,  with  his  usual  keen  eye  to  creature  comforts,  he  adds, 

"  A  while  discourse  they  hold ; 
No  fear  lest  Dinner  coole;  when  thus  began 
Our  Authour.    Heav'nly  stranger,  please  to  taste,"  Ac. 


The  forms  of  household  furniture  have  not  changed  so  much  as  most  persons, 
perhaps,  suppose ;  in  fact,  in  their  principal  outlines  and  essential  parts,  articles  of 
daily  household  use  could  not,  and  need  not  vary  in  different  ages  of  the  world. 
Whether  men  live  in  tents  or  houses,  in  castles  or  cottages,  whether  they  be  peace- 
ful or  warlike,  savage  or  civilised,  their  chairs,  tables,  beds,  and  such  like  articles, 
if  they  have  them  at  all,  will  be  alike  in  all  essential  points.  The  laws  of  mechan- 
ics, the  structure  of  the  body,  and  the  ingenuity  of  the  species  ensure  this.  We 
do  not  know  what  were  the  forms  of  the  bed,  the  table,  the  stool  and  the  candle- 
stick, which  the  good  Shunamite  woman  placed  in  the  little  chamber  which  she 
persuaded  her  husband  to  build  on  the  wall  for  Elisha  ;  but  we  do  know  that  the 
earliest  chairs  with  the  designs  of  which  ancient  monuments  have  made  us  ac- 
quainted, had  a  seat,  a  back,  and  four  legs;  and  ours  have  neither  more  nor  less. 
The  tables  of  the  same  period  had  tops  and  legs ;  the  former  of  various  shapes, 
the  latter  of  various  number  and  position,  just  as  is  the  case  with  tables  of  to-day ; 
and  so  with  beds,  couches,  and  other  articles.  The  difference  between  the  furni- 
ture of  one  age  and  country,  and  that  of  another,  is  merely  a  difference  in  com- 
fort and  style  of  ornament. 

"We  go  to  the  Egyptians  for  the  origin  of  every  art  and  science,  and  are  rarely 
disappointed ;  and  from  the  dearth  of  works  upon  furniture,  being  driven  to  original 
investigation  upon  this  subject,  we  find  that  at  an  early  day  in  their  history,  their 
artisans  had  arrived  at  a  high  pitch  of  excellence  in  the  manufacture  of  orna- 
mental furniture.  Their  merit  is  not  comparative,  but  positive ;  and  there  was 
for  thousands  of  years  very  little  real  improvement  upon  their  models  and  work- 
manship, and  as  might  be  expected,  no  more  lavish  expenditure  for  costly  ma- 
terials than  was  common  among  the  upper  classes  of  that  strange  people.  Cham- 
pollion  Figeac,  in  his  work  on  Ancient  Egypt,  furnishes  us  with  some  direct  infor- 
mation with  regard  to  Egyptian  furniture ;  and  from  the  illustrations  which  ac- 
company it,  in  which  kings  and  nobles  frequently  appear  in  various  public  and  do- 
mestic acts  and  ceremonies,  and  which  are  taken  from  the  ancient  monuments 
of  the  Egyptians  themselves,  we  are  able  to  learn  much  mot  e  that  is  interesting 
and  instructive  upon  the  subject. 

The  furniture  of  the  Egyptians  exhibits  a  higher  appreciation  of  the  beautiful 
than  we  find  in  any  of  their  works  of  pure  art.  The  sombre,  formal,  ponderous 
taste  of  the  people  appears,  it  is  true,  even  in  their  tables,  chairs,  and  bed- 
steads ;  but  it  is  more  modified  by  graceful  motives  than  it  seems  to  have  been 
in  any  other  of  their  articles  of  luxury.  It  is  true,  they  had  not  the  English  no- 
tion of  comfort,  and  had  not  quite  attained  to  tete-a-tetcs  or  reclining  chairs;  but 
they  studied  a  sort  of  rectangular  ease,  and  added  to  their  richness  of  material 
and  elaborate  workmanship,  a  solemn  elegance  which  was  at  least  a  substitute  for 
grace.  The  forms  which  they  affected  were  grotesque  enough.  Their  couches 
were  frequently  in  the  shape  of  a  sphinx,  a  lion,  a  jackal,  or  a  bull, — standing,  of 
course,  on  all  fours.  The  upward  curve  of  the  head  of  the  animal  served  for  tho 
support  of  the  pillow,  and  a  mattress  was  laid  upon  the  back.  The  imitation  of 
the  beast  was  carried  so  far  in  these  singular  pieces  of  furniture,  that,  in  addition 
to  color,  gold  and  enamel  were  freely  used  in  their  adornment.  The  same  labor 
and  rich  materials  were  expended  upon  their  bedsteads,  footstools,  divans,  cano- 
pied seats,  armories,  buffets,  chests  and  coffers ;  for  all  these  articles  were  included 
among  their  household  furniture.  Their  arm-chairs  were  supported  by  legs  in  the 
shape  of  those  of  beasts,  the  fore  legs  and  hind  legs  of  the  chair  corresponding  in 
shape  and  position  to  the  corresponding  members  of  the  animal ;  which  has 
the  effect  of  making  the  piece  seem  as  if  it  were  about  to  walk  off  by  itself.  The 
backs  were  quite  straight  upon  the  outside,  and  very  little  inclined  upon  the  inside : 
at  the  top  they  turned  outward  in  a  scroll.  They  were  richly  adorned  with  sculp- 
res  of  religious  or  historical  subjects ;  and  the  seats  were  generally  supported,  in 
appearance,  on  the  heads  of  figures  of  the  shepherd  kings,  which  were  placed  in 
this  position  as  a  symbol  of  the  servitude  of  the  race ;  and  which,  in  all  the  speci- 
mens which  we  have  examined,  are  bound  by  the  wrists  and  tied  together  by  the 
neck.  The  chairs  were  upholstered  with  the  richest  stuffs.  Some  of  their  chairs 
and  stools  were  constructed  in  the  curule  form  ;  that  is,  with  the  legs  crossing  each 
other,  and  confined  in  the  middle  by  a  pivot  upon  which  they  revolved,  enabling 
the  chair  to  be  folded  up.  These  legs  were  sometimes  in  the  form  of  swan's  necks, 
which  were  placed  with  their  heads  down.  Cedar  was  the  favorite  wood  with  the 
Egyptians  for  cabinet  purposes ;  it  was  generally  inlaid  with  ivory  and  ebony. 
The  seats  of  even  the  finest  chairs  were  sometimes  made  of  rushes;  but  the 
luxurious  covered  them  with  cushions,  or  soft,  rich  stuffs.  Egyptian  bedsteads 
were  not  always  in  the  menagerie  style;  and  when  they  were  not,  their  form  is 
that  of  an  elegant  modern  couch,  without  a  footboard.  The  legs,  however,  havo 
always  the  shape  and  position  of  the  fore  and  hind  legs  of  beasts ;  and  as  the  foot 
of  the  bed  is  supported  by  the  fore  legs  of  the  animal,  we  know  that  three  thou- 
sand years  ago  it  was  the  custom  to  place  the  head  of  the  bed  against  the  wall, 
just  as  it  is  now.  The  preposterous  fashion  of  high  bedsteads,  those  huge  plat- 
forms upon  which  it  is  necessary  to  clamber  at  peril  of  one's  neck,  and  which 
went  out  about  five  and  twenty  years  ago,  existed  among  the  Egyptians ;  for  we  find 
among  tho  pictures  which  the  care  of  Champollion  has  preserved,  representations 
of  bedsteads  which  are  ascended  by  four  steps;  about  the  number  up  which  our 
fathers  and  mothers  toiled  to  their  repose — repose  which  they  must  surely  havo 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


enjoyed;  for  Solomon  tells  us  that  "the  sleep  of  a  laboring  man  is  sweet,  whether 
he  eat  little  or  much."  They  had  centre-tables  in  Thebes ;  and  the  form  there- 
of was  like  unto  those  marble  receptacles  of  costly  rubbish  which  cumbered  the 
drawing  rooms  and  1  best  parlors'  of  England  and  America  fifteen  years  ago. 

In  every  point,  except  richness  of  material  and  fine  workmanship,  we  of  the 
present  day,  as  well  as  the  Greeks,  Etruscans,  and  Romans,  have  improved  upon 
the  ornamental  furniture  of  the  Egyptians.  Their  forms,  from  their  generally 
heavy  and  rectilinear  character,  were  not  suggestive  of  ease,  or  even  comfort ;  and 
what  they  did  not  promise  to  the  eye  they  did  not  give  to  the  body.  The  Theban  had 
no  midtlle  choice  between  sitting  bolt  upright,  with  legs  and  back  perpendicular, 
thighs  at  right  angles,  and  hands  upon  his  knees,  like  a  little  Memnon,  and  reclin- 
ing at  full  length  on  the  back  of  some  beast  of  prey.  The  social  intercourse  indi- 
cated by  the  Egyptian  furniture  is  one  of  a  magnificent  formality,  which,  judged 
by  modern  notions,  must  have  vibrated  continually  between  the  solemn  and  the 
grotesque. 

The  remains  of  Etruscan  art  prove  that  the  same  exquisite  perception  of  beauty 
of  form,  which  is  seen  in  their  vases  and  paintings,  directed  the  manufacture  of  all 
articles  for  their  household  use.  The  chair  commonly  used  in  Etruria  more  than 
two  thousand  years  ago,  is  the  most  convenient  and  graceful  which  has  been  in- 
vented. Except  the  plane  of  the  seat,  it  was  composed  entirely  of  curved  lines. 
The  legs  curved  gently  from  each  other,  tapering  gradually  to  the  lower  extremity : 
the  back  had  two  curves,  one  slightly  from  the  perpendicular  and  backwards,  the 
other  quite  marked  in  the  support  for  the  back  of  the  sitter,  which  in  fact  was  a 
segment  of  a  cylinder  about  four  feet  in  diameter  and  nine  inches  high.  There  is 
no  carving  or  adventitious  ornament  at  all  upon  any  representation  of  these  chairs 
which  we  have  seen.  Chairs,  very  like  those  of  the  Etruscans,  were  in  fashion 
about  twenty  or  twenty-five  years  ago,  and  may  be  still  seen  in  the  houses  of  some 
of  those  who  have  the  taste,  the  love  of  home  associations,  and  the  courage  not  to 
discard  old  household  friends  at  the  capricious  behest  of  fashion. 

The  Etruscan  bedsteads  were  shaped  like  our  old-fashioned  straight-backed 
and  sided  sofas.  The  dinner  bed  was  like  a  low  table,  supported  by  six  feet,  pyra- 
midal in  form,  and  standing  on  a  truncated  apex,  which  itself  rests  upon  a  plinth. 
The  wood-work  exhibits  no  ornament,  except  a  projecting  cornice.  Couches  were 
in  form  very  like  those  used  at  the  present  day ;  low,  without  back,  head  or  foot- 
board^ and  rising  at  the  head  in  a  gentle,  sweeping  curve.  All  these  were  luxu- 
riously cushioned  and  provided  with  large  pillows  covered  with  rich  stuff.  The 
pillows  seem  to  have  been  always  doubled  for  use. 

The  Greek  furniture  was  almost  identical  in  form  with  that  of  the  Etruscans ; 
and  the  Romans  followed  the  Greeks  in  this  respect,  as  in  almost  all  others  of  a 
similar  nature.  The  beds  used  both  in  Greece  and  Rome  were  shaped  either  like 
the  square  sofa,  or  the  couch  without  back  or  sides  of  modern  days.  They  were 
made  of  ebony,  citron-wood,  ivory,  and  even  silver,  ornamented  with  inlaid  work, 
and  bassi  relievi ;  and  those  in  silver  had  onyx  feet.  Chairs  of  the  Etruscan  form, 
and  also  of  the  Egyptian  pattern  slightly  modified,  were  used  by  them  ;  but  it  is 
worthy  of  notice,  that  when  the  legs  of  chair  or  couch  were  modelled  after  those 
of  beasts,  the  feet  were  turned  from  each  other ;  the  grotesque,  ambulatory  effect 
produced  by  the  natural  arrangement  being  thus  avoided.  The  buffets  and  cup- 
boards used  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans  were  of  the  simplest  possible  design,  and 
can  scarcely  be  considered  under  the  head  of  ornamental  furniture,  as  they  were 
little  more  than  plain  shelved  boxes  or  stands  for  the  display  or  preservation  of 
'silver.  Their  tables  appear  to  have  been  used  only  for  the  purpose  of  eating. 
They  were  of  all  forms  ;  square,  oblong,  circular,  oval,  and  triangular.  The  orna- 
ment upon  them  consisted  only  of  a  graceful  and  finely  carved  cornice,  and  legs 
sometimes  straight  and  fluted,  sometimes  curved  and  smooth,  but  almost  inva- 
riably terminating  with  the  foot  of  a  beast.  Frequently  the  leg  after  curving 
gently  in  from  the  claw  or  foot,  curved  out  again ;  and  from  the  swell  rose  the 
bust  of  a  sphynx  or  a  harpy,  upon  the  head  of  which  the  slab  rested.  The  table 
was  sometimes  made  entirely  of  marble,  ivory,  or  silver,  inlaid  with  plates  of 
gold.  The  cornice  appears  to  have  been  the  only  carved  ornament,  except  that 
upon  the  legs;  which  in  tables,  chairs,  beds  and  couches,  were  with  rare  excep- 
tions modelled,  somewhat  at  least,  upon  the  forms  of  those  of  beasts. 

The  introduction  of  that  architecture  which  we  call  Gothic,  effected  an  entire 
change  in  the  forms  of  all  articles  of  household  use.  What  was  inside  of  the  house 
conformed  to  that  which  was  outside  of  it.  Lightness  and  grace  of  design  gave 
place  to  ponderous  angularity;  and  the  imagination  of  the  decorative  artist 
was  directed  to  ornament,  which  displayed  the  fruits  of  an  exuberant  fancy,  rather 
than  to  outline;  for  in  that  he  servilely  copied  the  designs  of  the  architect,  or 
repeated  them  with  various  combinations.  To  trace  the  changes  in  the  fashion  of 
furniture  from  the  dark  ages  to  the  time  of  Louis  XIV.,  would  be  merely  to  follow 
a  repetition  in  wood  of  the  variations  in  the  style  of  working  in  stone.  Even  this 
would  be  interesting  to  the  student  who  has  made  this  department  of  art  his 
speciality ;  but  we  shall  not  be  tempted  into  such  detail. 

Until  the  eleventh  century,  the  furniture  of  the  nations  who  had  replaced  the 
Romans,  the  Gauls  and  the  Britons,  was  of  the  rudest  and  simplest  description,  as 
far  as  comfort  and  beauty  were  concerned.  The  only  difference  which  there  could 
have  been  between  the  household  furniture  of  a  king  and  a  peasant,  was  a  differ- 


ence either  in  essential  material,  or  that  produced  by  the  addition  of  precious 
metals  and  stones  for  mere  ornament;  for  when  a  king's  bed  was  but  a  clumsy 
shelf  in  a  clumsy  box,  and  his  chair  of  like  construction,  the  serf,  if  he  had  either 
bed  or  chair,  could  not  have  had  them  of  ruder  form.  The  truth  is,  however,  that 
the  serf  did  not  have  them;  and  that  until  the  eleventh  century,  the  chairs 
of  noblemen  were  but  square  settles,  made  easy  by  cushions  and  robes,  their 
tables  but  boards  laid  on  trcssles,  and  their  beds  but  square  boxes  on  legs,  having 
frequently  a  canopy  over  head  and  sometimes  hangings,  the  richness  of  which 
was  in  strange  contrast  to  the  coarseness  of  the  article  which  they  overshadowed. 
Nevertheless,  the  furniture  of  public  places,  massive  and  rude  though  it  was, 
displayed  some  attempt  at  ornament,  which  generally  took  the  form  of  the  heads 
and  feet  of  birds  and  beasts  grotesquely  distorted.  Some  of  the  articles  were 
made  valuable,  though  not  beautiful,  by  the  addition  of  gold,  silver,  and  precious 
stones. 

The  Anglo-Saxons  occasionally  used  round  tables  which  were  supported  on 
three  curved  legs,  somewhat  in  the  form  of  an  S,  though  much  less  bent,  the  foot 
being  thut  of  some  beast,  and  the  slab  of  the  table  resting  upon  a  grim  and 
rudely  carved  head.  These  tables  are  quite  like  those  used  by  the  Romans, 
which  we  have  already  referred  to,  the  double  carved  legs  of  which  terminated  above 
in  the  bust  of  a  sphinx  or  harpy.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  form  may  have 
been  adopted  by  the  Anglo-Saxons  from  relics  of  the  furniture  of  the  previous 
conquerors  of  Britain.  The  cupboards  and  buffets  of  this  time  were  too  rude  to 
present  the  slightest  claim  to  a  place  among  ornamental  furniture. 

In  the  tenth  century  the  massive,  rectangular  furniture  began  to  be  ornamented 
with  panel  work,  and  the  chairs  to  be  lightened  by  the  introduction  of  balustrades 
into  the  back  and  arms  ; — a  fashion  which  still  obtains  ;  but  although  carving  in 
architectural  forms  was  now  rapidly  introduced,  there  was  no  change  for  the 
better  in  design  or  comfort.  Not  only  are  the  specimens  of  furniture  which  have 
come  down  to  us  from  the  12th,  13th,  14th,  and  15th  centuries,  and  which  are, 
naturally,  those  preserved  in  public  places, — not  only  are  these  ponderous  and  un- 
inviting, as  might  be  expected,  but  the  articles  represented  in  the  domestic  scenes 
of  the  illuminated  manuscripts  of  the  period,  seem  contrived  with  malice  prepense 
to  ensure  the  greatest  possible  amount  of  inconvenience  and  discomfort  to  their 
possessors  and  occupants.  Beds,  couches  and  chairs,  when  stripped  of  the  ex- 
traneous ornamental  carving,  are  but  heavy,  clumsy,  oaken  boards,  put  together 
at  right  angles.  It  is  so  painful  to  see  old  saints  sitting,  and  sick  saints  reclining 
upon  these  instruments  of  torture,  that,  as  we  look,  we  wonder  that  a  belief  in 
purgatory  could  have  obtained  general  credence  at  a  time  in  which  even  thoso  who 
lived  and  died  in  the  odor  of  sanctity  were  obliged  to  undergo  such  daily  suffering. 

But  as  refinement  advanced,  articles  of  household  convenience  were  multi- 
plied for  all  classes ;  and  although  the  forms  continued  to  be  forbidding,  owing  to 
the  inexorable  perpendicularity  of  the  genius  of  Gothic  architecture,  which,  as  we 
have  said,  entirely  controlled  the  designs  for  furniture  in  the  middle  ages,  still, 
much  was  done  by  adventitious  means  to  make  sitting  and  reclining  less  exquisite 
in  their  torture. 

A  new  sentiment  began  to  manifest  itself  in  the  furniture  of  this  peri- 
od— that  of  domesticity.  The  furniture  of  the  Egyptians,  Etruscans,  Greeks,  and 
Romans  is  evidently  not  that  of  a  people  who  found  their  greatest  happiness  in 
social  enjoyment,  not  to  say,  in  the  intercourse  of  home.  Their  beds,  chairs, 
couches,  and  tables  were  barely  sufficient  for  the  actual  and  inevitable  demands 
of  nature ;  and,  though  elegant  in  form,  they  do  not  seem  the  better  fitted  to  add 
to  the  simple  enjoyments  which  form  the  staple  of  domestic  happiness  in  every 
rank  of  life.  The  Theban,  the  Athenian,  and  the  Roman  sought  pleasure  in 
public,  and  generally  in  the  open  air.  We  have  yet  to  see  among  thoso  elegant 
apartments  represented  upon  the  monuments  of  classic  antiquity,  a  single  ono 
which  has  what  we  call  a  habitable  look.  The  contrary  is  the  case  with  the  views 
of  interior  life  afforded  by  the  emblazoned  pages  of  Christian  antiquity,  where, 
especially  in  such  as  are  of  English  origin,  we  see  that  the  rooms  and  the  furni- 
ture are  those  of  a  people  to  whom  domestic  life  had  an  importance  and  afforded 
a  pleasure  unknown  to  the  citizens  of  Greece  and  Rome. 

The  bed  now  became  an  article  of  the  first  household  consequence.  The  bod- 
stead  and  the  couch  were  no  longer  convertible  terms  or  things.  The  latter,  stand- 
ing in  the  more  public  part  of  the  house,  was  open  to  the  use  of  any  one  at  any  time, 
but  the  former  was  removed  into  the  most  private  apartments,  and  was  used  only 
for  the  habitual  repose  of  the  members  of  the  family.  Bed  linen  came  into  vogue, 
and  the  bedstead,  as  it  was  to  be  stationary,  conformed  completely  to  the  ponderous 
taste  of  the  times,  and  assumed  such  vast  proportions,  and  such  solidity  of  structure, 
that  only  the  force  of  some  huge  engine,  the  rude  hand  of  war,  or  a  convul- 
sion of  nature  could  remove  it.  The  curtains,  which  seem  to  be  of  Anglo-Saxon 
origin,  demanded  support ;  and  they  had  it  in  the  shape  of  four  huge,  elaborately 
carved  wooden  pillars,  which  sustained  a  stupendous  framework  called  a  tester, 
bearing  about  such  resemblance  to  the  modern  article  of  that  name  as  Fahtaff 
did  to  the  mannikin  page  given  him  by  Prince  Hal.  These  testers  had  carved 
roofs  ;  and  the  headboards  of  the  bed,  shaped  like  a  Gothic  arch,  were  marvels  of 
intricate  carved  work,  the  centre  of  which  was  frequently  the  armorial  bearings 
of  the  person  at  whose  cost  tho  structure  was  elevated.    Shakespeare  makes  Sir 

183 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


Toby  Iklch  allude  to  one  of  those  formidable  sleeping  machines.  He  says  to  Sir 
Andrew  Aguecheel;  when  urging  that  valiant  gentleman  to  challenge  Viola,  "and 
as  many  lies  as  will  lie  in  thy  sheet  of  paper,  although  the  sheet  were  big  enough 
for  the  bed  of  Ware  in  England,  set  'em  down."  "We  obtain  a  definite  idea  of  the 
decree  of  freedom  in  giving  the  lie  which  Sir  Toby  recommends  to  his  pupil, 
when  we  learn  that  this  bed. was  ten  feet  nine  inches  long,  by  ten  feet  nine  inches 
broad  ;  and  the  question  naturally  arises  whether  Shakespeare  did  not  allude  to  it 
more  than  once,  and  whether,  as  it  stood,  we  believe,  in  an  inn,  some  of  its  remote 
and  unexplored  recesses  did  not  contain  "  the  undiscovered  country  from  whose 
bourne  no  traveller  returns."  Indeed  it  would  be  a  tempting  of  fate  to  commit  oneself 
rashly  in  the  night  to  such  a  wide  waste,  without  some  kind  Ariadne  to  furnish  a  clue 
by  which  to  find  the  way  out  again  in  the  morning.  This  famous  bed  may  be 
regarded  as  the  ideal  English  four-poster.  It  was  ceiled  with  heavy  panelling, 
and  its  ponderous  and  elaborately  carved  cornice  was  supported  at  the  loot  by 
posts,  into  the  composition  of  which,  pedestals,  pillars,  and  arches  entered  in  the 
lower  half,  while  the  solid  upper  part  was  decorated  by  carved  leaves  and  ara- 
besques of  enormous  size.  The  head-board,  which  reached  and  supported  the 
cornice,  was  worthy  to  be  the  altar-screen  of  a  cathedral.  Among  the  carvings 
which  adorned  it,  were  three  human  figures  half  the  size  of  life,  and  two  elabo- 
rate arched  panels.  This  bedstead  was  planned  and  constructed  in  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth  :  the  architect's  name  has  not  survived. 

The  buffet,  as  it  exists  in  our  thoughts,  had  its  origin  in  the  middle  ages  ;  for 
the  little  recesses  in  the  wall,  which  the  Greeks  and  Romans  used  for  the  purpose 
of  keeping  gold  and  silver  vessels,  cannot  be  considered  even  as  the  germ  of  those 
ponderous  carved  scaffoldings — those  cupboards  "  of  five  stages  height,  triangled" 
— those  things  "  made  like  stayres  to  set  plate  on,"  upon  which  our  ancestors 
used  to  display  the  family  silver.  These,  at  first  small,  rude,  and  unornamented, 
gradually  increased  in  size  and  richness  until  they,  with  their  furniture,  became 
the  most  imposing  article  in  the  great  hall  of  castle  and  manor-house.  They 
were  covered  with  grotesque  carving  of  the  most  intricate  and  elaborate  kind, 
and  were  expected  to  display  "a  covered  cup  of  gold,  six  great  standing  pots  of 
silver,  twenty-four  silver  bowls  with  covers,  a  bason,  ewer,  and  chasoir  of  silver," 
in  addition  to  such  other  vessels  of  metal  and  glass  as  the  pomp  of  a  great  house 
required  on  state  occasions.  They  were  the  results  of  a  hospitality  which  was 
both  open  and  ostentatious,  and  of  a  social  system  in  which  a  few  great  pro- 
prietors delighted  to  display  their  wealth  to  their  friends  and  dependents,  who 
themselves  took  pleasure  and  pride  in  the  magnificence  of  him  who  was  their  ally 
or  their  lord. 

Book-cases  are  of  yet  more  modern  origin.    "When  books  were  multiplied  only 
with  the  pen,  and  were  rolled  upon  cylinders,  book-cases,  in  the  modern  sense  of 
the  term,  were  not  needed,  and  in  fact  could  not  be  used.    The  change  from  the 
roll  to  the  quadrilateral  form  first  required  the  use  of  shelves  for  the  reception  of 
volumes ;  but  even  long  after  this  period,  books  were  kept  in  chests  or  laid  up  in 
racks.    Book-cases,  as  an  article  of  household  furniture,  did  not  exist  even  in 
modern  times,  until  half  a  century  after  the  invention  of  printing ;  that  is,  about 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.    When  nobles  and  gentlemen  could 
hardly  read  or  write  their  names,  and  in  fact  thought  study  quite  unsoldierlike 
and  somewhat  unmanly,  libraries  and  book-cases  formed,  of  course,  no  part  of 
their  household  wealth.     When  they  did  come  into  use,  they  were  constructed 
upon  the  Gothic  architectural  model,  which,  indeed,  in  its  predominance  of  per- 
pendicular lines,  its  tendencies  to  arched  panelling,  and  its  union  of  a  general 
sobriety  of  effect  with  the  most  fanciful  richness  of  detail,  is  peculiarly  suited  to 
rooms  devoted  to  literature,  and  quite  consistent  with  the  safe  and  convenient 
arrangement  of  books  in  numbers  either  great  or  small.    When  books  were  col- 
lectively few  and  individually  large,  a  comparatively  small  receptacle  would  hold 
all  which  would  supply  the  wants  or  be  within  the  means  of  gentlemen  of  ordi- 
nary wealth  and  devotion  to  literature.    The  earlier  book-cases  were  very  beau- 
tiful pieces  of  furniture  ;  not  too  large  for  a  modern  parlor,  richly  carved,  having 
few  shelves,  and  those  wide  apart  for  the  admission  of  goodly  folios,  and  usually 
made  with  a  recess  in  the  middle  for  the  admission  of  a  reading  desk,  which  was 
sometimes  a  part  of  the  book-case  and  sometimes  movable.    Those  who  have 
read  the  '  light  literature  '  of  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century  will  easily 
understand  why  it  was  desirable  that  there  should  be  a  resting  place  for  the 
volume  very  near  the  shelf  from  which  it  was  taken.    It  is  quite  needless  to  give 
a  more  particular  description  of  these  book-cases,  which  increased  in  size  as  each 
generation  added  to  the  collection  made  by  its  predecessors.    They  were,  exter- 
nally, little  wooden  cathedrals ;  and  a  look  at  a  print  of  the  West  frontof  Salisbury, 
York,  Peterborough  or  Westminster  Cathedral,  will  afford  a  very  just  idea  of 
their  appearance  ;  if,  indeed,  any  of  our  readers  should  not  have  seen  one  or  more 
of  the  innumerable  imitations  of  them,  in  which  modern  fashion  commands  that  a 
certain  quantity  of  gilded  morocco  must  solemnly  repose. 

It  was  not  until  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  that  a  style  of  decoration  peculiar  to 
furniture  came  into  vogue.  With  the  stately  splendor  of  the  court  life  of  Paris  at 
that  time,  there  arose  a  demand  for  a  corresponding  and  sympathetic  splendor  in 
the  surroundings  of  those  who  then  lived  in  'society,' — a  something  which,  as  dis- 
tinct from  either  domestic  life,  social  enjoyment,  or  state  ceremonial,  then  first 


came  into  existence.  Man's  mental  resources  are  always  equal  to  his  demands 
upon  them  :  invention  can  never  be  exhausted  ;  and  in  this  case  an  entirely  new 
stylo  was  created  to  supply  the  need  for  it.  It  was  not  a  modification  of  any 
previous  style,  or  formed  by  a  combination  of  the  characteristics  of  any  others. 
It  did  not  put  books  into  cathedrals,  or  make  men  sit  upon  sphinxes  or  lie  upon 
the  backs  of  ferocious  quadrupeds.  It  had  no  more  affinity  with  the  simple 
elegance  of  the  Greek  or  Etruscan  style,  which  was  suited  to  apartments  and  to  a 
state  of  society  which  needed  but  a  little  furniture,  than  it  had  with  the  ponderous 
and  fanciful  richness  of  the  Gothic,  which  was  made  for  a  people  who  literally 
inhabited  their  rooms,  and  easily  acquired  a  love  for  the  mere  insensible  objects 
with  which  they  associated  the  idea  of  home.  The  Roman,  in  his  bare,  un- 
furnished house,  must  needs  have  his  Lares ;  but  the  household  gods  of  the  Norman, 
the  Teuton,  the  Scandinavian,  and  the  Anglo-Saxon,  were  the  table  around  which 
his  kindred  sat,  the  cradle  over  which  his  mother  bent,  the  bed  on  which  his 
father  died. 

The  world,  in  its  new  phase,  worshipped  neither  sort  of  home  divinity.  It 
had  but  one  God — Louis,  but  one  religion — fashion,  but  one  ceremonial — society. 
The  change  in  furniture  which  it  called  into  existence  extended  to  every  article 
of  daily  use  ;  it  penetrated  the  inmost  recesses  of  the  house ;  in  fact,  it  supposed 
no  privacy,  and  had  no  need  to  do  so ;  for  then,  even  the  morning  toilet,  as  well 
of  ladies  as  of  gentlemen,  was,  from  its  very  commencement,  a  '  reception.' 

The  characteristics  of  the  new  style  were  studied  grace,  exquisite  finish  of 
detail,  and  the  greatest  possible  display  of  richness  of  material.  The  forms  were 
entirely  new,  and  were  produced  by  ever  varying  combinations  of  curved  lines, 
which  conformed  to  no  type  in  nature,  but,  on  the  contrary,  expressed  artifi- 
ciality and  courted  admiration  in  every  bend.  To  mere  curved  lines  producing 
circles,  ovals,  ellipses,  and  nameless  figures  resulting  from  the  capricious  inter- 
ference of  these  with  each  other,  were  added  scrolls,  shells,  masks,  and  garlands, 
which  were  placed  without  the  least  reference  to  the  natural  fitness  of  the  object 
for  its  position  ;  the  idea  suggested  by  the  combination  being  solely  that  of  orna- 
ment for  the  sake  of  ornament.  The  materials  used  were  the  rarest  wood,  and 
even  ivory  ;  and  these  were  inlaid  and  gilded  into  the  utmost  extreme  of  gorgeous- 
ness.  The  aim  of  the  designer  appeared  to  be  to  attain  at  once  the  richest  and 
most  fanciful  combination  of  color,  outline,  and  varied  surface,  and  the^most 
striking  contrasts  of  material.  At  this  time  Buhl,  the  King's  cabinet-maker, 
invented  the  well-known  incrusted  metal-work  which  bears  his  name,  and  which 
is  made  at  this  day,  with  little  variation  from  his  style  and  as  little  improvement 
upon  his  manufacture. 

As  we  have  before  remarked,  this  was  the  first  purely  decorative  style  in  tho 
history  of  furniture.  If  imitation  be  the  essential  motive  of  all  Fine  Art,  much 
of  the  Egyptian,  Etruscan,  Greek,  and  Roman  furniture  might  properly  claim 
a  place  in  Sculpture ;  and  the  same  definition  would  entirely  exclude  the  new 
style  from  all  consideration  due  to  it  on  the  score  of  Art,  for  it  suggested  no 
idea  but  that  of  furniture  and  decoration, — and  decoration  for  decoration's  sake. 
But  the  inventors  of  the  novel  ornamental  forms  given  to  all  furniture  at  this 
time,  although  entirely  free  from  the  restraints  of  imitative  Art,  and  at  liberty  to 
adapt  their  designs  strictly  to  the  uses  to  which  the  articles  embodying  them  were 
to  be  put,  obtained  complete  success  only  in  one  direction;  but  it  must,  in  strict 
justice,  be  added,  that  that  direction  was  the  one  to  which  alone  their  efforts 
tended.  They  obtained  an  original,  rich,  peculiar,  and  highly  ornamental  style ; 
one  suited  to  the  social  splendor  of  the  dayr ;  and  this  was  a  perfect  and  a  great 
success.  But  although  they  made  some  improvement  upon  the  perpendicular, 
rectangular  forms  of  immediately  preceding  ages,  they  made  only  a  partial  ad- 
vance in  comfort,  or  the  appearance  of  it,  and  frequently  reached  some  of  their 
most  fanciful  and  splendid  effects  at  the  expense  of  radical  faults  of  construction ; — 
that  is,  the  forms  which  they  chose  were  not  adapted  to  the  purpose  for  which  tho 
article  was  intended,  or  to  the  material  from  which  it  was  made.  For  instance,  it 
was  not  uncommon  for  them  to  make  an  arm-chair  in*  which  it  would  bo  impossi- 
ble to  recline  with  ease,  and  the  wood  work  of  which  was  carved  with  such 
disregard  of  the  course  of  the  fibre,  that  had  any  body  reclined  in  it,  back,  arms, 
and  legs  must  have  inevitably  snapped  like  pipe-stems.  The  cabinet-makers 
of  that  day  needed  a  course  of  study  upon  Mechanics  and  the  Strength  of  Ma- 
terials. 

But  this,  too,  was  thoroughly  in  keeping  with  the  spirit  of  the  time.  People 
did  not  live  for  home  comfort  then :  they  lived  for  1  society,'  and  society  was  a 
continual  drawing-room.  Ease  then  was  either  a  comparative  or  a  conventional 
term,  and  meant,  to  seem  as  much  at  ease  as  possible  under  adverse  circumstances. 
Buhl,  when  he  made  an  arm-chair  for  a  Marquis,  knew  that  the  rich  back  would 
never  be  touched,  that  the  beautiful  arms  would  be  used  only  to  hold  up  and 
display  yet  more  beautiful  arms  of  another  kind,  and  that  the  dainty  formality 
with  which  the  sky-blue  satin  breeches  of  somo  courtier  might  be  deposited  upon 
the  extreme  front  of  its  seat  would  not  test  the  capacity  of  its  curiously  formed 
legs  to  sustain  a  weight.  Therefore  tho  furniture  of  this  ago  is  expressive  not  of 
comfort  or  luxurious  ease,  but  of  disciplined  constraint  and  luxurious  ceremony, 
not  of  ostentatious  hospitality,  but  of  empty  ostentation.  But  in  the  creation  of 
a  purely  decorative  style,  it  made  a  great  stride  in  advance,  and  commenced  in 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


France  a  reform  in  household  art.  the  influence  of  which  is  yet  felt  throughout 
the  world ;  for  it  is  almost  needless  to  say  that  at  that  day  France  ruled  the 
world  of  fashion  with  a  sway  yet  more  despotic  than  that  which  she  exercises 
now,  and  that  her  dictates  were  deemed  no  less  hinding  upon  furniture  than 
upon  dress  ; — far  more  so,  indeed,  than  they  are  at  present ;  for  your  Englishman 
of  to-day  thinks  scorn  of  French  '  flimsiness,'  except  in  articles  which  are  hy 
nature  flimsy. 

The  succeeding  age,  after  the  manner  of  succeeding  ages,  only  exaggerated 
the  style  of  its  predecessor.  But  who  needs  to  be  told  that  the  reign  of  Louis 
Quinze  perpetuated  all  that  was  weak,  all  that  was  vicious  in  that  of  Louis 
Quatorze,  while  it  threw  off1  the  stately  formality  and  external  propriety  which 
lent  to  that  a  semblance  of  respectability.  This  change  was  completely  reflected 
in  the  furniture  of  the  period,  in  which  all  was  done  that  an  extravagant  and 
licentious  fancy  could  do,  to  pervert  and  fritter  away  whatever  was  meritorious 
in  the  style  which  had  been  bequeathed  to  it.  The  result  was  the  elaborately 
absurd  mannerism  known  as  rococo. 

The  next  change  was  to  as  great  an  absurdity  of  a  different  kind.  The  Revo- 
lution and  the  Empire  brought  in  an  affectation  of  the  classic ;  and  the  effect 
upon  furniture  was  the  production  of  ponderous  and  frigid  monstrosities.  As,  in 
every  thing  else,  so  in  household  decoration,  the  only  end  attained  was  caricature 
without  humor,  travestie  without  fun.  The  solemn  affectation  of  Greek  and 
Roman  forms  was  so  ridiculous,  that  only  the  inherent  vitality  and  grand  simpli- 
city of  the  classic  motives  enabled  them  to  survive  "  the  deep  damnation  of  this 
talcing  off ; "  otherwise  the  very  name,  classic,  would  have  provoked  a  smile. 
In  the  furniture  of  this  day  we  find  cornices  which  are  movable,  pillars  and  pilasters 
supporting  nothing  and  swinging  upon  hinges,  and  arches  upon  which  nothing 
rests,  and  the  only  keys  of  which  are  the  keys  which  unlock  them  that  they  may  fall 
forward  in  the  shape  of  desks  and  tables.  Decorative  furniture  owes  to  this 
age  only  the  introduction  of  the  beautiful  Etruscan  Greek  chair,  which  wo 
have  before  described;  and  the  severe,  essential  simplicity  of  which,  while  it,  with 
a  semblance  of  reason,  may  exclude  the  chair,  in  the  estimation  of  some,  from 
ornamental  furniture,  also  preserved  it  from  perversion  and  degradation  at  the 
hands  of  the  second-hand  Greeks  and  Romans  of  Anno  Domini  1800. 

At  the  present  day  we  are,  in  furniture,  as  in  the  arts  and  all  the  mechanical 
pursuits  depending  on  them,  more  or  less  eclectic.  But  we  sometimes  wear  our 
rue  with  a  difference,  and  when  we  do,  that  difference  is  sometimes  on  the  side  of 
comfort  and  convenience.  In  fact  we  have  a  furniture  style  of  our  own,  which, 
though  not  original,  bears  yet  the  marks  of  our  utilitarian  age.  It  is  a  modifica- 
tion and  a  moderation  of  the  style  of  Louis  XIV. ;  and  while  it  assumes  the  graceful 
motives  of  that  style,  it  also  reduces  them  to  greater  simplicity,  and  moulds  them 
into  forms  more  consistent  with  comfort  and  constructive  truth.  This  style  ap- 
pears chiefly  in  chairs  of  all  kinds  and  in  sofas,  and  will  readily  recur  to  those  at 
all  observant  upon  the  subject.  The  only  specimen  of  it  which  we  have  en- 
graved, is  the  sjfa  on  page  191,  exhibited  by  Alexander  Roux ;  and  in  this,  much 
of  the  carving  upon  the  back  is  more  than  superfluous.  The  projections  made  by 
it,  form  surfaces  very  uninviting  to  human  shoulders. 

Most  of  the  furniture  in  the  Exhibition  is  of  American  manufacture  ;  and  the 
display  may  be  taken  as  a  fair  index  of  the  taste  and  judgment  which  we  exercise 
in  providing  ourselves  with  household  comfort  and  ornament.  It  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  the  conclusions  forced  upon  ns  are  not  at  all  in  favor  of  our  good  sense 
or  our  perceptionst  of  beauty  or  fitness.  The  article  exhibited  in  excess  is  the 
buffet ;  the  very  one  which  is  least  suited  to  our  means,  our  habits,  and  our  style 
of  living.  There  are  not  a  hundred  private  houses  in  New- York  with  a  dining 
room  large  enough  for  a  buffet ;  and  certainly  not  that  number  the  owners  of 
which  can  afford  to  live  in  the  style  in  which  a  man  should  live  who  has  a  buf- 
fet properly  covered.  And  even  in  the  few  cases  in  which  this  is  not  true,  in 
how  few  of  these  can  the  sons  look  forward  to  the  possession  of  the  buffet  when 
the  father  is  obliged  to  leave  his  splendor?  and  how  many  a  daughter  goes  por- 
tionless from  that  splendor,  and  because  of  that  splendor,  to  the  home  of  a  young 
husband  who  has  just  struggled  into  competence  ?  Now,  this  is  all  wrong.  That 
buffet  does  not  fulfil  its  office.  It  does  not  make  us  feel  the  more  welcome,  or  the 
more  at  ease  while  getting  through  the  sumptuous  and  elaborate  hospitality 
of  our  host.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  quite  uncomfortable  to  think  that  our  enter- 
tainer and  his  family  have  little  more  than  a  usufruct  interest  in  that  splendid 
combination  of  carved  wood  and  plate.  It  interferes  with  the  digestion  of  orto- 
lans, and  deadens  the  bouquet  of  Lafitte,  to  reflect  that  our  munificent  friend's 
eldest  son, — the  young  gentleman  whose  amiable  weakness  at  the  knees  attracted 
our  attention  as  he  entered  the  drawing-room,  if,  according  to  an  elegant  phrase 
which  he  sometimes  uses,  the  governor  should  take  it  into  his  head  to  pop  off 
some  day, — that  then  this  tender-hearted  youth  would  have  his  feelings  lacerated 
by  the  sight  of  the  buffet  and  its  plate  under  the  hammer  of  the  auctioneer.  But, 
suggests  some  apologetic  philanthropist,  the  cost  of  a  buffet  is  not  much  to  a 
moderately  rich  man,  and  many  people  have  a  buffet  without  plate.  So  they  do, 
preposterous  fools !  and  they  might  as  well  have  a  stable  without  horses,  a  table 
without  food,  a  library  without  books,  or  books  without  brains.  A  buffet  re- 
qnires  a  large  dining-room  and  a  respectable  display  of  plate;  which  requires  a 


large  and  sumptuously  furnished  house;  which  requires  a  corresponding  equipage 
and  retinue  of  servants ;  and  the  comfortable  enjoyment  of  these  requires  a  con- 
sciousness that  they  will  not  all  vanish  into  thin  air  at  the  death  of  one  man. 
Consider  the  eternal  fituess  of  things,  good  people,  and  banish  your  buffets  in 
favor  of  the  more  modest  sideboard  ;  which,  nevertheless  can  be  made  sufficiently 
beautiful  and  sufficiently  costly  to  be  a  becoming  decoration  for  any  dining-room. 

With  regard  to  the  specimens  of  buffets  in  the  Exhibition,  we  have  little  to  add 
to  what  has  been  said  in  introducing  the  engravings  of  the  most  important  of  them. 
They  are  generally  well  designed  and  appropriately  decorated ;  and  the  carving 
upon  some  of  them  claims  high  consideration  as  art.  This  is  particularly  the  case 
with  that  represented  upon  page  114,  exhibited  by  Augustus  Eliaers,  of  Boston, 
and  which,  although  called  a  side-board,  is  actually  a  buffet,  and  with  that  upon 
page  168,  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Bulkley  &  Ilerter,  of  New- York.  The  former  is 
comparatively  modest  in  size,  and  though  rich,  is  unimpeachably  chaste  in  its  dec- 
oration, and  has  a  symmetry  of  outline  which  charms  the  eye.  It  has  but  one 
fault.  The  beautifully  designed  carved  work  upon  it  appears  to  have  been 
rubbed  smooth.  This  finish  is  a  blemish.  No  elaboration  of  surface  can  compen- 
sate for  the  loss  of  the  spirited  touches  of  the  carver's  tool.  The  second  is  really 
a  noble  work — not  only  large  in  size,  but  grand  in  style  ;  and  in  the  sharp  lines 
and  rich  surfaces  of  its  carved  work  it  shows  the  peculiar  beauty  which  disap- 
pears under  the  hand  of  the  polisher.  But  it  is  only  fit  for  the  dining-hall  of  a 
castle  or  a  manor-house. 

The  chairs  exhibited,  call  for  very  little  remark:  they  are  generally  neither 
very  good  nor  very  bad.  But  one,  which  is  represented  on  page  16C,  is  worthy 
of  notice  as  being  almost  the  ideal  of  inappropriateness  and  discomfort.  Its  elab- 
orate and  finely  executed  carving  only  renders  it  the  more  unfit  for  any  place  in 
which  an  easy  chair  should  be  admitted  ;  and  the  style  of  its  decorations,  though 
very  well  for  the  facade  of  an  arsenal,  is  preposterous  in  the  chamber,  the  draw- 
ing-room, or  the  library,  where  grim-visaged  war  should  smooth  his  wrinkled 
front. 

Of  tables,  our  pages  exhibit  three  monstrosities  and  one  fine  model.  Among 
the  first  is  that  exhibited  on  page  65,  which  in  outline  and  in  decoration  is  at  war 
alike  with  the  principles  of  construction  and  of  good  taste.  The  legs  seem,  and 
are,  ntterly  worthless  as  supports ;  and  the  figures  with  which  they  are  adorned 
only  tempt  to  the  best  disposition  that  could  be  made  of  them, — to  break  them 
off.  The  console  table  on  page  125,  and  the  centre  table  on  page  175,  are  not 
much  better.  The  former  is  deliberately  designed  to  be  as  useless  as  possible ; 
and  looks  more  like  the  skeleton  of  some  antediluvian  insect  than  a  piece  of 
household  furniture.  The  centre  table  exhibits  a  world  of  talent — and  of  rosewood, 
thrown  away.  The  carving  is  very  fine,  but  what  of  that  ?  The  thing  out- 
ricocos  ricoco.  Here  are  caryatides  with  their  heads  rising  above  that  which 
they  support,  and  other  caryatides  which  are  actually  supported  by  that  which 
they  should  support.  The  form  of  the  legs  is  such  that  the  whole  weight  must 
be  sustained  by  the  mere  lateral  adhesion  of  the  fibre  at  their  smallest  diameter, 
— which  with  ingenious  perversity  is  placed  exactly  where  the  greatest  strength  is 
needed, — and  that  it  is  impossible  to  put  the  thing  to  any  use  for  which  a  table 
is  needed.  A  lady  in  a  hoop  might  approach  it  and  toss  her  fan  upon  it ;  but 
there  its  worth  ends  as  a  piece  of  furniture.  The  extension  table,  on  page  125, 
exhibited  by  C.  F.  Hobe,  is  at  once  elegant,  substantial,  and  useful ;  and  is  con- 
structed upon  exactly  those  principles  which  the  other  three  defy.  This  is  not 
the  fault  of  the  makers  of  the  former,  for  those  were  made  for  show  and  sale  to 
people  of  bad  or  uninstructed  taste,  while  the  fourth  was  made  for  use. 

"We  have  engraved  only  two  bookcases ;  but  these  will  amply  serve  the  pur- 
pose of  illustrating  our  views.  The  first  object  of  a  bookcase  is  the  protection 
of  books ;  but  this  would  be  fully  attained  by  keeping  them  in  a  chest  or  a 
cabinet.  There,  however,  access  to  them  would  be  difficult,  and  so  we  place 
them  upon  shelves  for  convenience ;  but  we  do  not  use  the  shelves  of  a 
closet  because  upon  those  the  books  would  be  hid  from  view,  and  we  should 
be  deprived  of  that  familiar  acquaintance  with  their  exterior,  which,  to 
most  of  those  who  really  love  books,  is  one  great  enjoyment  in  the  pos- 
session of  them.  To  the  bookish  man — not  to  say  to  the  student  or  the  biblioma- 
niac, the  loving  look  at  a  prized  volume,  and  the  quiet  caress  of  the  appropriate 
attire  with  which  the  binder  has  clothed  it,  are  a  silent  grace  before  intellectual 
meat.  The  design  of  a  bookcase  is  good  then,  just  in  so  far  as  it  combines  pro- 
tection to  books,  convenience  in  their  use,  and  pleasing  display  of  them ;  and  ob- 
viously, whatever  ornament  is  added  should  not  only  be  in  harmony  with  these  ob- 
jects, but  entirely  subordinate  to  them  :  the  case  should  distract  attention  from  its 
contents.  Judged  by  this  standard,  the  two  bookcases  represented  on  pages  67  and 
173  have  merits  and  defects.  The  former,  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Bulkley  &  Ilerter 
is  a  fine  specimen  of  Gothic  furniture.  Its  style  and  its  ornaments  are  not  only 
beautiful  in  themselves,  but  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  purpose  for  which  the 
piece  is  designed.  As  we  have  before  remarked,  there  is  in  the  Gothic  style  a 
peculiar  fitness  to  bookcases  and  to  library  furniture  of  all  kinds.  But  this  book- 
case, although  it  protects  the  books,  and  is  tolerably  well  arranged,  as  far  as  con- 
venience is  concerned,  has  the  serious  fault  of  concealing  the  greater  portion  of 
its  contents.    It  is  rather  a  stately  cabinet  than  a  bookcase;  and  wherever  it 

1S5 


THE 


INDUSTRY    OF   ALL  NATIONS. 


stood,  itself  would  be  the  attraction,  rather  than  the  books  which  it  contained. 
The  case  represented  on  p.  173,  exhibited  by  J.  Dessoir,  obviates  thi9  objection 
almost  entirely  ;  and  save  for  its  waste  of  valuable  space  by  the  triangular  com- 
partments at  each  end,  and  the  insertion  of  the  impertinent  and  unmeaning  lit- 
tle figures  at  the  spring  of  the  arches,  it  may  be  regarded  as  an  entirely  successful 
design,  and  one  much  more  in  harmony  with  the  architecture  of  city  houses 
than  its  superbly  ornamented  rival.  In  the  design  and  construction  of  book-cases, 
the  front  should  contaiii  only  so  much  wood  as  is  necessary  to  the  strength  of  the 
jambs,  and  sash,  or  door  frames;  all  else  is  superfluity;  no  matter  how  highly 
and  appropriately  ornamental  it  may  be  in  itself.  For  the  same  reason,  it  is  better 
that  the  doors  should  be  glazed  with  large  than  with  small  panes. 

We  regret  that  we  have  not  been  able  to  speak  in  more  general  and  unqualified 
praise  of  the  furniture  in  the  Exhibition ;  and,  all  the  more  do  we  regret  it,  be- 
cause of  the  predominance  of  American  work  in  this  department, — a  department 
in  which,  from  the  purely  domestic  character  of  our  people,  and  the  well  known 
ingenuity  and  skill  of  our  artisans,  it  would  be  reasonable  to  expect  the  highest 
kind  of  excellence.  On  the  contrary,  however,  we  find  only  the  first  grade  of  an 
inferior  order  of  merit, — the  mere  excellence  of  high  finish  and  elaborate  orna- 
ment. But,  as  we  have  before  hinted,  buyers,  rather  than  the  designers  of  furni- 
ture, are  most  to  blame  for  this.  If  the  former,  disregarding  their  own  instincts, 
which  we  know  would  lead  them  to  choose  furniture  with  reference  to  its  capa- 
city for  bestowing  comfort  and  its  domestic  fitness,  deliberately  give  themselves 
up  to  ostentation  and  inexplicable  dumb  show,  we  cannot  expect  the  latter,  who 
live  by  them,  to  refuse  to  minister  to  their  frivolous  and  degraded  taste.  It  is  to 
the  buyers,  then,  rather  than  the  makers  of  furniture  that  our  strictures  have  been 
addressed ;  and  we  have  not  on  that  account  spoken  the  less  freely  or  directly, 
or  as  some,  perhaps,  may  think, — severely.  But  if  this  Eecoed  of  the  World's 
Industry,  and  these  essays  suggested  by  the  exposition  of  the  fruits  of  that  indus- 
try, are  to  have  any  intrinsic  value,  any  abiding  influence,  that  value  and  that 
influence  will  be  largely  owing  to  the  out-spoken,  independent  judgments  which 
make  the  critical  staple  of  this  volume. 

The  moral  of  our  essay  is,  in  a  few  words,  this :  that  furniture,  ornamental  or 
not,  is  only  excellent  just  in  so  far  as  it  is  useful :  that  mere  ornament  must  be 
left  to  the  Fine  Arts,  whose  peculiar  function  it  is  to  minister  to  our  sense  of 
beauty  :  that  furniture,  however,  can  be  beautiful,  and  that  its  highest  beauty  is 
entirely  consistent  with  its  perfect  usefulness.  In  judging  a  single  piece  of  furni- 
ture, its  fitness  of  form  to  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  designed  must  be  first  deter- 
mined ;  next,  its  mere  beauty  of  outline ;  then,  the  design,  appropriateness,  and 
finish ;  and  last,  the  richness  of  the  material  which  enters  into  its  composition. 
The  general  mode  of  choosing  furniture  is  to  reverse  this  order,  and  consider  first 
the  material,  next  the  ornament,  then  the  beauty  of  form,  and  last  the  fitness. 
These  considerations  affect  the  furniture  itself;  but  the  place  which  is  to  receive 
it  should  influence  the  judgment  as  second  only  to  the  use  to  which  it  is  to  be 
put.  This  style  of  the  house,  the  room,  and  all  the  domestic  surroundings  should 
be  constantly  borne  in  mind  in  the  choice  of  furniture.  Congruity  and  har- 
mony should  not  be  violated  in  a  drawing-room,  a  parlor,  or  a  library,  any  more 
than  in  a  picture  or  a  poem.  But,  though  some  reference  should  be  had  to 
architectural  consistency,  still  it  is  not  necessary  to  exclude  from  a  house  or  a 
room  all  furniture  the  style  of  which  is  not  contemporaneous  with  its  architec- 
ture ;  and  this,  because  houses  are  enduring,  while  furniture  is  destructible  and 
changing. 

There  are  certain  rules,  however,  which  can  only  be  disregarded  at  the  cost  of 
the  most  ruthless  disregard  of  propriety  and  violation  of  good  taste ;  and  these  have 
reference  to  the  mingling  of  different  styles  both  of  furniture  and  architecture. 
The  union  of  two  distinct  styles  in  one  piece  is  an  atrocity  not  the  less  barbarous 
because  it  is  common.  "  The  words  of  Mercury  are  harsh  after  the  songs  of 
Apollo  ;"  but  this  is  worse,  infinitely  worse ;  it  is  the  words  of  Mercury  with  the 
songs  of  Apollo.  The  introduction  of  an  Etruscan  chair  or  a  Eoman  table  into  a 
room  of  Gothic  design,  though  not  always  desirable,  is  justifiable;  it  violates 
nothing  in  the  order  of  time,  and  neither  of  the  articles  is  sufficiently  imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  classical  architecture  to  take  it  out  of  neutral  ground  ;  but  to 
bring  a  Gothic  arm-chair,  book-case,  or  table,  into  a  room,  the  architecture  of 
which  is  Grecian,  is  to  combine  anachronism  and  discord  in  the  utmost  possible 
degree.  The  existence  of  Gothic  furniture  with  Greek  or  Roman  architecture 
is  not  to  be  accounted  for  by  any  admissible  supposition  ;  and  the  motives  of  the 
one  are  openly  and  radically  at  war  with  those  of  the  other.  This  should  be  ever 
borne  in  mind ;  and,  not  less,— that  the  size  of  furniture  should  be  adapted  to 
the  proportions  of  the  apartment  for  which  it  is  destined. 

The  object  of  all  articles  of  household  use  is  to  afford  bodily  ease  and  pleas- 
urable repose  of  mind;  and  therefore,  as  a  parting  word,  we  add,  for  the  benefit  of 
the  large  majority  of  those  who  will  read  these  pages — a  majority  with  which  wo 
can  heartily  fraternize — that  the  luxurious  furniture  which  will  beget  content  in  the 
house  of  a  rich  man,  because  we  know  that  it  is  in  place,  and  trouble  ourselves 
no  more  about  it,  will  only  provoke  discomfort  in  a  poor  man's  dwelling,  because 
we  feel  that  there  it  is  out  of  place,  and  we  involuntarily  share  the  trouble  that 
we  know  it  brings  to  him. 


PORCELAIN  AND  OTHER  CERAMIC  MANUFACTURES. 

rpiIE  display  of  fine  porcelain  in  the  New- York  Exhibition,  and  of  objects  illustrat- 
ing  several  other  branches  of  the  ceramic  art,  is  one  of  the  remarkable  features 
of  the  place,  and  it  is  little  to  say,  that  it  has  proved  a  most  novel  and  instructive 
spectacle  to  those  who  had  not  before  seen  the  great  National  Museums  of  Europe. 
Fortunately  for  the  development  of  this  art  in  the  United  States,  the  costly  experi- 
ments, analyses,  designs,  and  processes  of  the  manufacture  preliminary  to  success, 
have  been  made  at  the  expense  of  immense  sums  of  money  and  of  the  best  scientific 
and  practical  skill,  by  France  and  other  European  governments  during  nearly  a 
century  and  a  half.  These  results  confirmed  by  the  latest  experience,  are  perfectly 
accessible  through  the  enlightened  liberality  of  those  at  whose  instance  they 
have  been  made,  and  are  embodied  in  the  well-digested  literature  of  the  subject  in 
the  most  precise  terms.  It  cannot  happen  but  that  we  shall  soon  avail  our- 
selves of  these  facilities  to  establish  on  a  large  scale  an  industry  whose  more  com- 
mon results  are  a  matter  of  daily  necessity,  although  it  will  be  long,  before  we 
can  produce  the  costlier  and  more  artistic  examples  of  the  art.  There  is  no  more 
perfect  embodiment  of  the  refinements  of  modern  art  and  the  triumphs  of  mod- 
ern science  than  we  see  in  a  Sevres  vase. 

In  our  studies  of  the  properties  of  natural  products,  we  have  frequently  oc- 
casion to  remark,  that  nature  has  provided  a  substance,  whose  peculiarities  fit  it 
especially  for  a  particular  purpose  in  the  economy  of  human  necessities,  and  that 
nothing  else  could  replace  it  in  this  relation.  Such  a  substance  is  clay  or  alumina, 
which,  next  to  silica,  is  the  most  abundant  mineral  constituent  of  our  earth. 
No  productive  soil  is  free  from  a  large  portion  of  it.  Alumina,  however,  forms  no 
part  of  the  ashes  of  any  plant,  and  is  therefore  entirely  wanting  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  all  animals.  Yet  alumina  subserves  a  most  important  purpose  in  all  fer- 
tile soils  (albeit,  of  itself  quite  sterile  and  valueless,  and  when  in  excess,  offering 
most  serious  impediments  to  agriculture),  namely,  in  its  power  to  retain  mois- 
ture and  fertilizing  gases,  and  in  giving  by  its  plasticity  the  requisite  de- 
gree of  adhesion  to  the  other  earths,  which  alone  have  none  of  this  property. 
It  is  the  only  earth  having  the  valuable  property  of  plasticity  or  capacity  of 
being  kneaded  like  dough,  accompanied  by  entire  absence  of  elasticity,  so  that 
it  preserves  exactly  the  impression  of  the  slightest  force,  and  becomes  hard  upon 
losing  its  moisture. 

The  two  chief  varieties  of  clay  are  porcelain  clay  and  common  or  potters'  clay. 
The  important  distinction  between  these  two  varieties  of  the  same  substance,  is 
in  the  fact,  that  porcelain  clay  is  always  derived  from  the  decomposition 
of  felspar,  and  the  latter  from  common  aluminous  rocks,  or  non-alkaline 
minerals.  Felspar  contains  in  its  unchanged  state,  a  large  amount  of  potash  or 
soda,  and  in  its  decomposition  parts  with  nearly  all  its  alkali  to  form  a  soluble  sili- 
cate of  potash,  which  is  washed  out  by  the  waters,  and  leaves  an  insoluble  plastic 
mass  of  porcelain  clay  (silicate  of  alumina).  In  such  a  clay  the  two  constituents 
and  the  water  of  combination  always  associated  with  them,  are  very  constant, 
while  in  common  clays  they  are  very  variable  ;  and  added  to  them  are  variable 
quantities  of  oxyd  of  iron,  lime,  and  sand,  which  seriously  modify  the  fusibility 
and  other  properties  of  the  product.  In  the  best  porcelain  clay  the  equiva- 
lents of  alumina  are  equal  to  those  of  silica,  and  the  water  of  combina- 
tion is  equal  to  both  the  other  constituents.  The  idea  that  porcelain  earth 
contains  a  notable  quantity  of  alkali,  to  which  the  semi-vitrification  is  due,  is 
a  mistake,  and  it  is  requisite  to  add  to  it  a  certain  portion  of  the  undecomposed 
alkaline  mineral  (felspar),  in  order  to  secure  vitrification  in  the  burning. 
The  simple  silicate  of  alumina  (pure  clay),  is  almost  incapable  of  fusion  by  itself 
and  resists  the  utmost  heat  of  the  finest  furnace  of  the  arts,  with  only  a  slight 
softening,  and  wares  made  from  it  are  entirely  opaque. 

Porcelain  is  distinguished  from  common  earthenware  by  its  beautiful  semi- 
transparency  (translucency),  as  well  as  by  its  greater  hardness  and  strength. 
Our  knowledge  of  porcelain  dates  only  from  the  discovery  of  the  passage 
to  India,  by  the  Portuguese,  who  first  brought  specimens  of  this  ware  from  China. 
In  China  this  species  of  ware  has  been  made  from  a  remote  antiquity,  and  for  a 
long  period  after  its  introduction  in  Europe  this  was  the  sole  source  of  supply. 
It  is  said  that  historical  records  in  China  prove  the  existence  of  this  manufac- 
ture as  early  as  2,000  years  before  the  present  era,  or  nearly  4,000  years  ago. 
We  are  indebted  to  the  researches  of  the  French  Jesuits  for  the  first  authentic 
information  regarding  the  materials  employed  by  the  Chinese,  and  their  processes 
of  preparation.  Specimens  of  these  materials  were  brought  to  Franco  under  the 
names  of  Kaolin  and  Petuntze.  The  former  substance  was  found  to  be  a  pure 
clay  drained  from  the  decomposition  of  felspar ;  the  petuntze,  a  quartzose  felspar, 
partly  decomposed.  These  two  minerals,  both  reduced  to  a  state  of  fine  powder, 
were  mixed  with  water  to  a  paste,  and  left  in  large  heaps  in  a  damp  place  for 
a  generation,  before  they  were  considered  fit  for  use.  It  was  the  custom  (and  it 
is  still)  in  China,  it  is  said,  for  a  man  to  use  the  clay  which  his  grandfather  had 
prepared,  and  to  prepare  at  least  an  equal  quantity  for  future  generations. 

The  known  properties  of  these  minerals  immediately  revealed  to  the  ingenious 
French  the  secret  of  the  China  ware.  The  clay  alone  was  able  to  produce  only 
a  white  opaque  body,  like  any  other  good  sort  of  clay  ware,  but  when  a  proper 


THE   NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


portion  of  the  petuntze  was  incorporated  with  it,  the  fusible  felspar  at  once 
imparted  new  properties  to  the  biscuit,  rendering  it  semi-transparent,  and  very 
strong  and  sonorous.  Thus  porcelain  differs  from  common  earthenware,  by  be- 
ing somewhat  assimilated  to  the  nature  of  glass.  The  felspar  fuses  in  the  heat  of 
the  furnace,  owing  to  the  potash  or  soda  it  contains,  and  the  fused  portion  so 
completely  permeates  the  whole  mass  that  we  may  conceive  of  the  clay  as  being 
saturated  with  glass,  until  it  has  the  peculiarity  of  semi-transparency  belonging  to 
it,  as  paper  is  penetrated  and  made  translucent  by  oil  or  varnish.  Under  the 
microscope  the  two  ingredients  are  distinguished  in  the  milky  mass,  the  flux  or 
glassy  portion  seeming  to  be  permeated  by  white  crystalline  needles. 

Porcelain  is  also  distinguished  from  common  earthenware  by  its  glaze,  which 
is  formed  of  pulverized  felspar  and  has  therefore  the  same  composition  and  hard- 
ness with  the  body  of  the  biscuit.  This  glaze  it  will  be  remarked  has  no  lead  in 
its  composition,  and  thus  differs  in  a  most  important  particular  from  the  glazing 
of  opaque  ware.  The  latter  may  be  removed  from  the  body  which  it  covers  by 
mechanical  or  chemical  means,  and  often  chips  off  and  cracks.  No  such  accident 
can  happen  to  the  porcelain  glaze,  which,  owing  to  its  being  of  the  same  con- 
stitution with  the  body  of  the  ware,  is  completely  one  with  it,  and  suffers  no 
fracture  from  any  inequality  of  expansion  or  contraction  between  the  two  mate- 
rials. It  is  almost  needless  to  say  that  porcelain  is  not  liable  in  the  slightest  de- 
gree to  the  evils  arising  from  the  porosity  of  common  earthenware. 

The  classification  of  porcelain  and  other  ceramic  manufactures,  is  conveniently 
made,  as  in  London,  into  a  hard  porcelain,  b  statuary,  c  tender  porcelain,  d  stone- 
ware glazed  and  unglazed,  e  earthenware,  /terra-cotta  porcelain,  g  ornamental  or 
decorated. 

The  mass  or  body  of  the  ware  for  hard  porcelain  is  composed  as'follows : 


At  Sevrbs  (near  Park). 

At  Meissen  (Saxony), 
Called  Dresden  Ware. 

At  Berlin  (Prussia). 

FOR  VESSELS  (1853.) 

Kaolin  43. 

Sand  (separated  from  the 
Kaolin  above),   ...  48. 

FOR  PLATES  AND  TABLE  WARE. 

Kaolin  (from  3  localities 
Broken  Porcelain,  ,   .   .  2. 

FOR  PLATES,  DISHES,  ETC. 

FOR  ORNAMENTAL  PURPOSES. 

Broken  Porcelain,  ...  8J. 

FOR  ORNAMENTAL  USE. 

Kaolin  from  Marl,   ...  25. 
"       "    Beidersee,  .  50. 

It  is  plain  from  a  glance  at  this  table  that  hard  porcelain  is  entirely  composed  of 
two  minerals,  both  derived  from  granitic  rocks,  both  very  infusible,  and  forming  a 
compound  after  the  burning,  of  the  most  unchangeable  nature.  The  kaolin  is  rarely 
found  in  beds  or  masses  of  sufficient  purity  or  uniformity,  to  admit  its  being  used, 
without  preparation  by  washing  and  subsidence  in  water  to  separate  the  undecompo- 
sed  portions  of  felspar,  quartz,  &c.  The  clay  mass  for  porcelain  must  be  perfectly 
homogeneous,  and  very  finely  ground.  This  condition  is  met  by  first  washing 
the  crude  material  in  a  series  of  tubs  placed  one  above  the  other,  and  provided 
with  means  to  keep  up  agitation  by  stirring  at  intervals,  between  which  the 
coarser  matters  fall  to  the  bottom,  and  the  finely  divided  particles  of  clay  flow  on 
with  water  into  the  lower  vessels,  where  they  subside.  The  coarser  particles, 
consisting  of  fragments  of  felspar  and  quartz,  are  then  ground  under  mill-stones 
to  an  impalpable  powder,  and  the  same  process  is  repeated  upon  the  felspar  and 
broken  porcelain,  if  it  is  used.  The  term  slip  is  given  by  the  manufacturers  to 
the  soft  creamy  mixture  of  the  finely  ground  materials  with  water,  having  about 
the  consistence  of  thick  cream.  This  is  passed  through  fine  sieves  to  separate  any 
floating  organic  matters.  It  is  easy  to  see,  that  according  as  the  crude  kaolin  is 
clay-like,  or  sandy  and  coarse,  that  the  process  of  washing  will  furnish  more  or 
less  of  the  felspathic  and  quartzose  materials  which  it  is  required  to  add  to  the 
kaolin,  and  hence  the  practice  of  every  porcelain  establishment  in  the  mixing  of 
its  several  ingredients,  must  be  adapted  to  the  local  peculiarities  of  its  own  sour- 
ces of  supply  for  raw  material.  It  is  indispensable  that  the  several  constituents 
should  be  mingled  in  exact  proportions  by  weight.  To  effect  this  with  ease, 
it  is  usual  to  employ  measured  quantities  of  the  slip  of  each  constituent, 
separately  ground,  the  value  of  an  unit  of  each  having  been  accurately  deter- 
mined by  analysis,  and  the  standard  requires  the  best  porcelain  to  contain  in 
100  parts  ;  Silica,  58  ;  Alumina,  34.5  ;  Lime,  4.5  ;  and  Potash  3. 

The  paste  must  always  present  the  same  constitution  in  100  parts;  but  as  it  is 
a  mechanical  mixture,  it  is  still  liable  to  separation  by  gravity  into  layers  of  un- 
equal value,  in  the  process  of  drying.  To  avoid  this,  various  expedients  have 
been  adopted.  In  France  the  slip  is  put  in  sacks  of  strong  linen  cloth, 
previously  soaked  in  hot  linseed  oil  (which,  strange  to  say,  renders  them 
more  permeable  to  water  and  more  durable),  and  is  then  submitted  to  an 
hydraulic  press,  as  in  the  expression  of  flaxseed  oil.  The  paste,  by  whatever 
mode  dried,  is  always  unevenly  so,  and  is  trod  out  under  feet  of  men, 
beaten  by  stamps,  and  thrown  forcibly  in  balls  against  an  iron  plate.  Finally, 
when  it  is  made  as  homogeneous  as  possible,  the  paste  made  into  blocks  or 
balls  of  moderate  size,  is  stored  away  in  a  damn  cellar  for  many  months, 


during  which  time  it  undergoes  a  sort  of  fermentation,  exhales  the  fetid  odor 
of  sulphuretted  hydrogen,  and  blackens  on  the  outside.  The  beneficial  effect  of 
this  long  storage  is  universally  conceded,  but  the  cause  has  not  been  well 
explained.  The  clay  becomes  more  plastic,  as  one  good  result,  and  of  course 
works  better  on  the  wheel.  Porcelain  clay,  as  prepared  for  use,  is  never  as 
plastic  as  potters'  clay,  and  the  labor  required  to  produce  the  same  results  with 
it  in  the  wheel,  is  reckoned  as  ten  times  greater  than  that  required  when  only 
the  pure  plastic  clay  is  used.  Six  hundred  plates  a  day,  is  a  common  day's  work 
for  a  potter  in  Staffordshire  ware,  while  sixty  to  eighty  are  the  utmost  which 
can  bo  fashioned  in  porcelain  clay. 

All  simple  circular  and  cylindrical  vessels  can  be  formed  upon  the  wheel  by 
the  hands  of  the  potter,  aided  by  a  few  simple  tools ;  but  when  the  forms  are 
complicated,  and  especially  when  they.aro  angular  or  elliptical,  it  is  requisite  to 
form  the  paste  in  moulds  of  gypsum.  The  vessels  formed  on  the  wheel,  after 
being  air-dried,  are  turned  in  a  lathe  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  in  use  for  turning 
wood. 

For  the  moulds,  the  clay  is  prepared  by  rolling  it  out  npon  a  table  with  a 
rolling-pin  into  an  even  sheet,  much  as  a  cook  prepares  pastry.  The  sheet  is  made 
manageable  by  being  spread  upon  a  cloth,  and  in  this  way  it  can  be  conveniently 
taken  to  the  mould  and  adapted  to  its  surface  by  the  pressure  of  a  moist  sponge. 

The  handles,  etc.,  are  moulded  separately,  and  attached  to  the  roughened  surface 
by  a  little  slip,  care  being  taken  that  the  parts  joined  have  a  similar  degree  of  humid- 
ity. Open  or  reticulated  work,  as  in  baskets,  &c,  is  produced  by  cutting  away  the 
open  space  with  a  knife.  Most  of  the  ornamental  surfaces  are  produced  in  moulds 
or  in  the  lathe,  but  stamps  may  be  employed  to  impress  the  surface  in  an  ornamental 
manner,  adhesion  being  prevented  between  the  stamp  and  the  clay  by  the  use  of 
oil  of  turpentine.  The  beautiful  lace-work  so  gracefully  disposed  upon  the  statu- 
ettes of  Oopeland  and  Minton,  is  produced  by  dipping  real  lace  into  the  porcelain 
slip,  thus  inclosing  the  fibre,  which  in  the  heat  of  the  furnace  is  complete!}'  de- 
stroyed, leaving  its  perfect  counterpart  in  biscuit. 

When  the  several  articles  are  completely  formed,  they  are  set  away  to  dry 
upon  shelves  in  a  shady  place  free  from  currents  of  air  ;  no  means  has  been  dis- 
covered by  which  the  process  of  air-drying  can  be  hastened  without  serious  injury 
to  the  porcelain.  When  this  tedious  process  is  -complete,  the  work  is  ready 
to  go  into  the  furnace  for  the  first  firing. 

The  porcelain  kiln,  like  all  furnaces  used  for  the  potters'  art,  is  a  reverberatory 
furnace,  but  its  form  and  structure  are  peculiar.  It  is  a  circular  structure  of  three 
stories,  separated  from  each  other  by  low  domes  of  masonry,  through  which  flues 
admit  air  for  the  draught  of  the  furnace  and  distribution  of  heat.  The  structure  ends 
in  a  conical  funnel  over  the  third  story,  acting  as  the  chimney,  where  the  products 
of  combustion  are  discharged.  The  fires  are  built  in  four  external  furnaces  equidis- 
tant, and  at  the  base  of  the  lower  story,  and  these  are  so  constructed  that  the  cold 
air  is  made  to  pass  downward  through  the  fire,  which  is  fed  with  dry  wood, 
(usually  pine  or  poplar),  split  small  and  introduced  vertically,  so  that  it  burns  only 
at  its  lower  extremities,  the  ash-pit  being  closed  and  the  air  thus  made  to  pass 
in  through  the  interstices  of  the  fuel.  The  effect  of  the  disposition  of  the  fire  is  to 
prevent  the  access  of  cold  air  to  the  kiln,  to  produce  a  more  perfect  combustion, 
and  of  course  more  intense  and  uniform  heat.  When  the  furnaces  are  well  served, 
the  combustion  is  so  complete  and  the  current  of  air  so  steady  and  strong,  that  not 
a  pound  of  ashes  is  found  in  the  furnace  or  kiln,  although  the  quantitj'  of  wood 
consumed  would  produce  over  two  hundred  pounds,  burned  in  the  usual  manner. 
A  most  serious  evil  is  avoided  by  this  absence  of  ashes,  namely,  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  seggars  or  protecting  cases  in  which  the  ware  is  packed,  which 
would  easily  fuse  and  run  together  by  reason  of  the  combination  of  the  alkali  ot 
the  ash  with  the  silica'of  the  vessels,  endangering  the  safety  of  the  whole  contents 
of  the  kiln.  The  heat  passes  into  the  kiln  from  the  furnaces  through  several 
small  square  openings,  and  then  inpinges  against  thick  protecting  plates  of  fine 
clay,  which  spread  and  diffuse  it  equally  as  possible  through  the  whole  of  the 
kiln.  The  lower  story  of  the  kiln  receives  by  far  the  most  intense  heat,  and 
therein  are  placed  the  things  requiring  to  be  baked  at  the  highest  temperature,  in 
other  words,  the  ware  to  be  glazed,  while  the  biscuit  is  fired  in  the  second- story 
of  the  kiln,  which  receives  its  heat  entirely  from  the  first ;  and  lastly,  in  the 
third  story,  the  protecting  cases  or  seggars  are  baked. 

Porcelain,  and  all  delicate  ceramic  wares,  requires  to  be  protected  from 
contact  with  the  ashes  and  dust  of  the  furnace,  by  external  cases  of  fire- 
proof sandy  clay,  made  in  a  cylindrical  form,  and  of  such  diameter  and 
height  as  will  receive  the  various  vessels,  the  bottom  of  one  seggar  or  pro- 
tecting case,  forming  the  top  of  the  one  below.  The  success  of  a  porcelain  man- 
ufactory may  be  said  to  depend  upon  its  being  possible  to  obtain  a  supply  of  the 
requisite  material  near  at  hand  for  forming  the  seggars,  whose  destruction  in  each 
firing  is  unavoidably  considerable,  even  with  the  best  care  and  materials,  in- 
volving of  course  a  large  increase  of  cost  chargeable  upon  the  finished  ware. 
Openings  are  left  through  the  door  of  each  story  of  the  kiln,  by  means  of  which, 
trial  pieces  (called  watchmen),  can  be  inserted  and  withdrawn  from  time  to 
time,  as  tests  of  the  progress  of  the  heat.  For  some  hours  (8  or  10),  after  the 
fires  are  kindled,  the  ash-pit  is  kept  open  and  the  heat  kept  purposely  low,  that  the 

13T 


THE  INDUSTRY 


OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


whole  mass  may  rise  very  gradually  to  a  dull  redness.  The  ash-pit  is  then  closed,  and 
the  management  of  the  furnaces  already  described  is  begun,  and  the  heat  raised  to  the 
point  of  incipient  fusion  of  the  porcelain  (full  whiteness),  when  the  flux  (felspar,) 
fuses  and  vitrifies  the  glaze.  The  lesser  heat,  technically  called  warming  (to  low 
redness),  drives  off  all  watery  vapor  and  contracts  the  porcelain,  and  the  baking, 
which  occupies  from  eight  to  fifteen  hours,  fuses  theglaze  and  vitrifies  the  mass.  The 
porcelain  cannot,  however,  be  removed  from  the  furnace  under  six  or  eight  days,  dur- 
ing which  the  kiln  slowly  cools,  all  its  openings  being  closed,  and  the  porcelain  thus 
becomes  annealed  (as  is  the  case  with  glass),  without  which  precaution,  it  would 
be  valueless.  When  the  seggars  are  opened,  the  porcelain,  if  the  whole  manufac- 
ture has  been  properly  conducted,  will  have  a  pure  milk-white  color,  without  any 
tinge  of  blue,  but  the  surface  here  and  there  shows  specks  or  stains  which  result 
from  the  flaking  off  of  small  bits  from  the  seggars,  or  from  dust  and  particles  of 
carbon  which  have  found  their  way  into  the  interior  of  the  seggars.  While  the 
kiln  has  been  filled  below  with  glazed  ware,  the  second  story  has  in  like  manner 
been  filled  with  biscuit,  where  the  temperature  is  not  more  than  one  third  as  high 
as  it  is  on  the  first  floor.  The  shrinkage  which  porcelain  suffers  is  about 
thirteen  per  cent,  as  a  mean  for  the  linear  contraction,  but  the  total  contraction 
in  volume  is  near  forty  per  cent.  Allowance  has,  of  course,  to  be  made  in  the 
modelling  for  this  reduction  of  size  in  the  baking. 

Porcelain  Painting  is  an  art  closely  allied  to  that  of  glass  painting,  the  effect 
being  entirely  restricted,  however,  to  reflected  light,  as  the  semi-opacity  of  the 
ware  forbids  the  use  of  all  transparent  effects.  The  pigments  are  either 
metallic  oxyds  themselves,  or  enamels  and  glasses,  colored  by  the  proper  oxyds, 
and  ground  to  a  fine  powder.  When  it  is  remembered  that  the  desired 
tints  of  color  appear  only  after  firing,  it  will  be  understood  that  porcelain 
painting  involves  artistic  difficulties  unknown  to  the  miniature  painter,  whose 
skill  is  required  to  meet  the  demands  of  this  beautiful  art.  Many  of  the 
pigments  produce  their  appropriate  tints  only  at  a  certain  temperature, 
far  less  intense  than  that  of  the  baking  kiln,  while  others  form  compounds  so 
fusible  with  the  materials  of  the  glaze,  that  they  would  run  at  a  temperature 
below  that  required  to  fuse  others.  This  fact  divides  the  pigments  into  the  easily 
fusible  colors  (technically  called  muffle  colors,  because  they  require  to  be  fired  in 
an  oven  or  earthenware  box,  called  a  muffle),  and  refractory  colors,  or  those  which 
will  stand  the  utmost  heat  of  the  kiln.  The  latter  may  be  put  on  with  the  glaze 
or  beneath  it  on  the  biscuit  surface,  and  do  not  injure  the  smoothness,  brilliancy, 
nor  hardness  of  the  glaze,  while  the  muffle  colors  require  oxyd  of  lead  to  make 
them  act  well,  and  are  always  elevated  above  the  glazed  surface,  are  sensibly  felt 
as  a  raised  surface,  and  are  more  easily  worn  away.  The  refractory  colors  are 
blue,  with  cobalt ;  green,  with  chrome ;  brown,  with  oxyd  of  iron,  oxyd  of  man- 
ganese, and  perchromate  of  iron  ;  yellow  with  oxyd  of  tilanium,  and  black  with 
oxyd  of  uranium ;  and  are  all  applied  with  silicate  of  potash  or  soda  as  a  flux. 
Gold  is  applied  to  porcelain  in  the  state  of  fine  powder  (as  it  is  precipitated  by 
sulphate  of  iron  from  its  solutions),  and  is  made  to  adhere  by  the  addition  of  one 
tenth  of  oxyd  bismuth,  and  rubbed  up  with  thick  oil  or  turpentine.  The  bismuth 
oxyd  fuses  to  the  glaze,  and  causes  the  gold  to  adhere  so  firmly,  that  it  can  be 
burnished  with  an  agate. 

It  is  in  the  department  of  painting  and  ornamenting  porcelain  that  the  most 
time,  talent,  and  experience  are  required.  Years  are  lavished  on  some  of  the 
elaborate  vases  and  exquisite  pictures  of  Sevres,  Berlin,  and  Dresden.  And  the 
best  artists  of  modern  times  have  vied  with  each  other  in  producing  cartoons  for 
porcelain  painting.  Fragility  aside,  no  work  of  man  is  more  indestructible  than 
a  porcelain  vase  or  tablet,  and  there  is  every  probability  that  some  such  memento 
may  go  down  to  future  times  as  an  index  of  the  condition  of  art,  refinement,  and 
science,  in  the  nineteenth  century ;  as  the  Portland  vase  has  survived  the  splen- 
dor and  wreck  of  the  Koman  Empire,  a  mute  but  most  eloquent  witness  of  its  age. 

The  Parian  statuary  biscuit  does  not  differ  essentially  from  porcelain. 

Tender  or  Soft  Porcelain. — This  differs  from  hard  porcelain  in  being  formed 
of  an  easily  fusible  mass,  glazed  with  lead  and  borax.  In  fact,  the  tender  porce- 
lain would  be  glass,  if  the  materials  were  treated  in  the  same  way.  The  en- 
tire absence  of  alumina  from  the  composition  of  the  ancient  Sevres  tender  porce- 
lain, forbids  us  to  consider  it  as  a  porcelain.  Its  composition  was  in  500 
parts:  fused  nitre,  110;  common  salt,  36;  alum,  18;  carbonate  of  soda,  18;  gyp- 
sum, 18;  sand,  300.  This  preparation  was  entirely  set  aside  by  the  introduction 
of  hard  porcelain,  and  possesses  now  only  an  historical  interest. 

The  English  porcelain  all  falls  under  the  head  of  tender  porcelain,  if  we  except 
some  of  Mr.  Minton's  hard  porcelain,  and  the  statuettes,  which  are  almost  solely 
an  English  speciality.  The  English  tender  porcelain  differs  essentially  from  the 
ancient  Sevres,  and  is  a  true  porcelain  body  made  fusible  by  a  flux  of  bone  ashes,  but 
the  glaze  always  contains  lead.  It  is  formed  by  the  use  of  plastic  clay,  porcelain 
clay  or  kaolin  (the  cornish  stone,  as  it  is  called  in  England,  is  only  a  crude  kaolin), 
burnt  bones,  chalk,  flint,  and  sometimes  soapstonc.  These  materials  are  ground  and 
suspended  in  water  as  already  described,  for  hard,  porcelain.  A  frit  or  imperfect 
glass  is  formed  of  a  part  of  these  materials,  by  the  addition  of  carbonate  of  soda, 
borax,  and  oxyd  of  tin,  the  latter  being  added  to  insure  white  opacity.  The 
following  shows  the  composition  of — 

139 


TUB  FRIT. 

THE  MAS9. 

Cornish  Stone, 

40 

Kaolin,  - 

-  33 

Flint,  - 

-  28 

Blue  Clay, 

-  45 

Soda,  - 

20 

Cornish  Stone, 

-  n 

Borax,  - 

-  7 

Flint, 

-  3 

Oxyd  of  Tin, 

5 

Burnt  Bones, 

52 

Frit, 

-  7 

100 

100 

This  mass  is  easily  worked,  because  of  the  large  amount  of  plastic  clay  it 
contains ;  the  goods  are  fired  twice,  first  for  fifty  hours,  and  after  dipping  in  the 
glaze  slip,  again  for  twenty-four  to  thirty  hours.  The  glaze  is  usually  a  silico- 
borate  of  lime,  soda,  and  lead,  but  the  lead  may  be  omitted  by  employing  a  lar- 
ger portion  of  borax,  which  is  sometimes  done.  This  glaze  is  soft  and  easily 
scratched  by  the  knife,  but  quite  smooth  and  fit  for  receiving  the  ordinary  painting. 
The  reason  why  hard  porcelain  is  not  made  in  England,  is  understood  to  be 
the  absence  of  a  suitable  material  for  making  the  seggars. 

Wedgewood  ware  is  composed  of  a  frit  and  of  a  clay  composition,  and  falls 
more  properly  under  this  division  than  with  earthenware.  The  beautiful  forms 
and  graceful  ornaments  of  the  Wedgewood  ware  form  a  signal  instance  of 
the  importance  of  securing  the  highest  talent  for  design,  where  an  estab- 
lishment would  aim  at  the  best  results  of  which  any  given  art  is  capable.  The 
English  courts  present  some  examples  of  fictile  wares,  where  the  essential  prin- 
ciples of  design  in  such  matters  seem  to  have  been  overlooked,  and  all  reference 
to  a  subordination  of  the  ornamental  work  to  the  use  and  outline  of  the  whole  for- 
gotten. While  works  of  this  description,  with  their  exquisite  wreaths  and  bouquets 
of  flowers,  and  other  relievo  and  undercut  ornaments,  must  excite  our  admira- 
tion for  the  skill  of  the  artist,  and  his  command  over  his  plastic  vehicle  of  ex- 
pression, they  are  inherently  unfit  for  the  position  they  occupy,  as  is  shown  by 
the  imperfect  manner  in  which  they  have  sustained  the  transportation  and 
handling  necessary  to  place  them  on  exhibition.  Such  ornaments  in  porcelain  are 
fit  only  to  be  placed  under  a  glass  shade  beside  wax,  and  other  artificial  flowers, 
which  may  be  seen,  but  not  handled,  qualities  which  we  do  not  seek  in  a  vase 
or  water  jug. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  point  out  in  the  French  court  the  beautiful  objects  which 
there  attract  universal  attention.  Here  again  we  must  refer  to  the  pages  where 
several  of  these  objects  are  to  be  seen  engraved,  and  repeat  that  the  productions 
of  Sfevres  stand  pre-eminent  for  every  quality  of  taste  and  excellence  of  material 
and  manufacture.  That  Sevres  is  an  annual  expense  to  the  French  nation,  in  a 
very  considerable  sum  over  and  above  all  sales  made  of  its  high-priced  wares,  is 
only  saying  that  France  has  been,  under  all  governments,  sensible  of  the  duty  she 
owed  her  arts  and  artists,  to  maintain  in  a  liberal  spirit  a  school  of  design  in  the 
ceramic  arts,  which  should  be,  as  it  ever  has  been,  a  model  for  the  admiration  of 
the  world.  The  best  science,  and  the  most  distinguished  art  which  the 
country  could  furnish,  have  ever  been  in  requisition  for  its  management. 
Brongniart's  "Les  Arts  Ceramique,"  is  the  great  source  of  information  for 
all  subsequent  authors  upon  the  history  and  practice  of  the  ceramic  art.  Brong- 
niart,  for  forty  years  was  its  manager,  and  to  him  and  Maleguti  (also  an  employe 
of  the  government  in  the  same  speciality),  we  owe  nearly  all  the  accurate  science 
we  possess  in  reference  to  every  point  of  the  porcelain  manufacture.  Ebelman 
and  Begnault  have  added  their  services  in  the  same  establishment ;  while  in  the  de- 
partment of  modelling  and  painting  their  artists  have  been  workmen,  and  their  work- 
men have  had  the  spirit  of  artists.  Who  that  has  seen  the  Cupid  and  Psyche,  the  en- 
tombment of  his  mistress  by  a  lover,  and  many  other  original  works  in  the  museum 
at  Sfevres,  but  must  at  once  feel  the  power  of  art  to  elevate  and  refine,  and  admire  the 
union  of  science  and  art,  which  has  produced  such  almost  miraculous  results. 

In  the  other  branches  of  ceramic  art,  there  is  much  that  might  be  said  with 
justice  and  manifest  advantage  of  the  beautiful  productions  of  Minton,  Copeland, 
did  our  space  permit,  as  much  detail  as  the  subject  demands.  On  another  page 
we  present  colored  illustrations  of  the  encaustio  tiles  of  Mr.  Minton.  This  is  the 
greatest  step  in  decorative  architecture,  which  the  ceramic  art  has  made  in 
England,  and  Mr.  Minton  has  received  at  all  hands  the  just  reward  of  his  eminent 
merits  as  a  most  spirited  and  tasteful  master  in  his  art.  The  same  exhibitor  shows 
striking  and  most  beautiful  examples  of  the  old  Majolica  or  Raffaellesque  ware, 
for  garden  seats,  flower  vases,  &c,  for  a  long  time  lost  or  in  disuse ;  and  lastly, 
he  ha3  revived  the  glazed  friezes  in  blue  and  white,  with  figures,  and 
other  architectural  ornaments,  known  as  the  Lucca  do  la  Robbia  ware,  and  of 
which  some  of  the  finest  examples  extant  are  in  Pisa. 

We  would  not  overlook  the  existence  of  the  porcelain  manufacture  in  the 
United  States,  as  indicated  by  the  specimens  shown  by  the  United  States  Pottery 
Company,  from  Bennington,  Vt.  We  do  not  know  why  it  should  be  styled 
"  patent  flint  enamelled  ware,"  ns  from  the  specimens  of  felspar,  white  quartz, 
and  clay,  shown  as  the  raw  materials  of  its  manufacture,  it  is  obviously  a  hard 
porcelain,  of  which  the  raw  materials  are  superior  to  tho  skill  which  has  been 
bestowed  on  them.  The  results  obtained,  however,  are  very  encouraging,  and  the 
specimens  of  white  ware  sound,  and  in  all  respects  of  most  excellent  quality. 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


The  group  of  plate — Chalices  <fec,  commencing  this 
page,  forms  part  of  the  church  furniture  manufactured 


and  exhibited  by  MM.  Villemsexs  &  Co.,  of  Paris.  These 
vessels  are  made  of  silver,  handsomely  wrought  and 


man,  Berne,  Switzerland  The  delicate  imitative  sculp- 
ture which  it  exhibits,  is  executed  in  white  wood.  It  is 
a  beautiful  specimen  of  carving,  and  reflects  credit  upon 
the  ingenuity  of  the  industrious  Swiss. 


The  Buffet,  which  completes  this  page,  is  exhibited 


chased,  and  parcel  gilt. 

The  adjoining  Flower  Vase  is  accredited  to  A.  Bau- 


by  E.  W.  HuTCiim,  of  New- York.  The  material  is  oak 
except  the  top  which  i8  a  polished  slab  of  a  beautiful 
vanegated  marble.  The  panels  of  the  back  an  filled 
With  mirrors.    The  ornaments  of  the  buffet  are  of  he 


characte"  which  custom  has  prescribed,  and  which  are  I  in  the  conception  of  the  design  than  in  its  execution.  |  and  incorrect,  and  betrays  a  want  of  practical  skill  in 
sanctioned  by  taste.     But  we  find  more  to  commend  |  The  treatment  of  the  figures  in  particular  is  undecided  |  the  art  of  wood  sculpture. 

189 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


The  elegant  Dress  Sword  here  illustrated  is 
exhibited  by  the  Ames  Manufacturing  Company, 
Chioopee,  Mass.  It  was  presented  to  Col.  Thayer, 
U.  S.  A.,  formerly  Superintendent  of  the  Military 
Academy  at  West  Point,  by  several  gentlemen 


The  illustrations  which  fill  the  remainder  of  the  page  represent 
a  selection  of  the  jewelry  exhibited  by  M.  Rudolphi,  of  Paris.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  praise  loo  highly  these  exquisite  productions. 
The  most  delicate  and  perfect  workmanship,  and  the  most  artistic  and 


The  honor  of  reforming  the  manufacture  of 
jewelry  in  France,  of  reviving  the  mediaeval 


processes  ot  enamel  and  niello,  and  of  giving  a 

9 


pleasing  invention  are  here  united.  The  precious  metals  employed 
by  M.  Rudolphi  are  heap  when  compared  with  the  value  imparted 
to  them  by  his  skill.  The  Council  Medal  awarded  to  M.  Rudolphi 
at  the  London  Exhibition  of  1851,  shows  in  what  high  estimation  his 
talents  are  held  by  connoisseurs.    One  of  the  articles  for  which  that 


award  was  made  is  the  Vinaigrette  at  the  head  of  this  column.  It  is 
very  beautiful,  the  clear  crystal  glass  being  clasped  in  a  setting  of 
oxydised  Bilver  of  graceful  design  and  perfect  workmanship.  The 
four  Bracelets  are  also  made  of  oxydised  silver,  and  deserve  every 


who  graduated  under  his  direction.  The  vignettes 
upon  tho  scabbard  contain  representations  of  the 
Academy  buildings,  and  the  hilt  is  terminated 
with  a  bust  of  Calhoun. 


commendation  for  their  artistic  merits.  The  Cup  is  agate,  supported 
on  a  silver  stem  with  enamelled  clusters  of  grapes.  The  small  Vase 
which  completes  the  page  is  for  toilet  use,  and  is  very  beautifully 
ornamented  with  enamels 

190 


truly  artistic  direction  to  the  talents  of  French- 


men, is  due  to  the  late  M.  Wagner,  the  son  of 
a  Berlinese  goldsmith.      In  his  establishment 


M.  Rudolphi  was  chef  d'atelier,  and  afterwards  as- 
sociate, and  now  proprietor. 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


The  beautiful  Arm  Crura  is  exhibited  by  the  manufacturer,  Ji-ies  Dessoir,  of  New- 
York.    The  wood  is  black  walnut,  and  the  carving  is  executed  with  taste  and  spirit. 


A  Sofa,  elegant  in  its  proportions  and  highly  finished  in  its  workmanship,  is  exhi- 
bited by  Alexander  Roix,  of  New- York.     The  frame  is  rosewood,  and  this  rich  ma- 


terial is  carved  with  a  corresponding  richness.  It  is  upholstered  with  gaily  colored  satiu. 
We  engrave  one  of  the  exquisite  specimens  ot   Iieauvais  Tapestry,    sailed  The 


Skaters,  executed  by  Chevalier  after  a  painting  by  Lancret.  This  piece  is  o«ie  of 
the  most  attractive  of  those  exhibited  ;  it  is  valued  at  6000  francs. 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


The  engraving  with  which  this  page  commences  re- 
presents one  of  the  bountiful  Parian  statuettes  exhibited 
by  Copeland.    The  subject  is  the  Temptation  01  Eve. 


pnrtment,  is  that  introduced  upon  this  page.  It  is  a 
Sofa,  so  constructed  that  it  may  bo  arranged,  as  represent- 
ed, to  occupy  the  centre  of  an  apartment,  or  its  divisions 


*re  contributed  by  the  Royal  Iron  Foundry  of  Berlin. 
The  workmanship  of  these  columns  exhibits  the  same 
exquisite  and  masterly  skill  which  we  have  already  uo- 


The  adjoining  bas-relief,  executed  in  plaster,  is  ex-  I  may  be  separately  placed  against  the  wall.    It  is  sur- 

|" mounted  by  a  massive  porcelain  vase  from  which  arise 


hibited  by  F.  W.  Dankbeeg. 


ticed  in  terms  of  high  and  well  deserved  praise.  The 
columns  were  designed  by  Prof.  Strack  ;  the  shafts  rise 


Among  the  numerous  articles  of  elegant  and  luxuri-  I  the  gilt  branches  of  a  candelabrum, 
ous  furniture  exhibited  by  Balnt,  Jr.,  in  the  French  De-  |      We  engrave  two  ornamental  cast-iron  Pillarh,  which 

1!>2 


THE    NEW- YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


graceful! v  from  their  tripod  bases,  are  midway  encircled 
by  bas-reliefs  of  figures  from  the  antique,  and  their 


flat  tops  supports  esquestrian  groups,  designed  by  Prof. 
Fischer.    Above  the  bas-reliefs  the  dark  color  of  the  iron 


is  relieved  and  gracefully  ornamented  by  an  inlaid  thread 
of  silver,  wrought  into  the  chaste  and  simple  forms  of 
antique  decoration. 


exhibit  the  finest  workmanship  and  most  graceful  de- 
coration. Three  examples  are  introduced  on  this  page — 
a  Canuei.mjrim  °f  bronze  gilt,  with  painted  porcelain 


As  examples  of  the  miscellaneous  manufactures  of 
France,  we  engrave  two  Caxk  Heads,  very  richly  and 
tastefully  wrought  in  gold.    They  are  exhibited  by  MM. 


vignettes;  a  glass  Vase  encircled  with  a  gilt  vine;  and 
a  Flower  Vase  of  glass,  the  centre  being  cut  crystal, 
and  the  top  a  delicate  green,  mounted  in  gilt  bronze. 


Theodorn  <t  Reqiedat. 

M.  La  Hoche,  of  Paris,  contributes  a  great  varietv 
of  articles  in  porcelain,  glass,  and  bronze,  all  of  which 
'  198 


We  represent  the  ornamental  part  of  the  Neptuxi 
IIose  Carriage,  of  Philadelphia.  It  is  a  solid  plate  of 
metal  richly  and  beautifully  embossed,  chased,  and  gilt. 


THE  INDUSTRY 


O  F    A  I,  I.  NATIONS. 


We  engrave  upon  this  page  another  example  of  poreelnin,  the  exquisite  production 
of  French  industry  and  art.  The  decoration  of  this  piece  presents  the  richest  har- 
mony of  colon,  and  t he  design  is  appropriate  and  beautiful.  It  forms  the  top  of  a 
small  ornamental  table  mounted  in  bronze  richly  gilt.  The  elevation  of  the  table  has 
already  been  given  in  this  work.  It  forms  the  suitable  ornament  of  a  drawing  room 
or  boudoir,  for  the  occasional  reception  of  cards  and  letters,  and  similar  objects  of 


momentary  importance.    Tiie  table  is  exhibited  by  M.  La  Hoche. 

The  ornamental  Clock  beneath,  also  comes  from  Paris,  and  is  contributed  by  Lrc- 
roixe  Freres.    It  is  executed  in  bronze,  and  is  partly  gilt, 

Messrs.  Garraro,  of  London  exhibit  the  silver  Centre  Piece  here  engraved,  which 


was  made  by  them  for  Elliot  Thayer,  Ksq.,  of  Boston.    The  subject  is  the  landing  of 
;  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  and   the  figures  represent  Captain  Miles  Standish,  Governor 
Bradford,  and  the  early  and  faithful  friend  of  the  Puritans,  the  Indian  Samoset 

The.  class  of  ornamental  objects  known  tinker  the  general  name  of  centre  pieces 
const  itnl'-s  a  very  large,  and  by  far  the  costliest  part  of  the  works  in  the  pre- 
l  eious  metals   in  tin-  present    Inhibition.    A  careful   and  continued  examination 

194 


of  them  has  convinced  us  of  their  aesthetic  and  artistic  impropriety.  Sculpture 
on  a  large  scale  in  the  precious  metals  is  a  mistake ;  and  the  attempts  at 
exact  imitations  of  fruits,  flowers,  and  foliage,  which  so  largely  abound  in  the 
exhibited  specimens,  are  absurdities  beneath  criticism.  The  gray  and  polished  ap- 
pearance of  silver,  having  neither  the  warm,  solid  color  of  bronze,  nor  the  trans- 
parency of  marble,  is  altogether  unfavorable  to  the  purposes  of  the  artist.   Its  surface, 


whether  polished  or  white,  gives  false  reflections,  where  in  other  metals  there  would 
be  shadows.  To  obviate  this  fatal  objection  to  silver  as  usually  treated,  the  continen- 
tal artists  oxydize  its  surface  even  in  jewelry,  and  it  then  looks  like  so  much  zinc.  To 
the  uninstructed  eyeitgives  no  indication  of  being  silver,  and  thus  in  a  great  measure 
does  away  with  the  value  of  centre  pieces  as  evidences  of  wealth  and  luxury,  which, 


lifter  all,  is  the  true  secret  cause  of  their  high  estimation.  There  are  other  ornaments 
more  appropriate  for  the  table  on  festal  occasions,  which  evince  taste  as  well  as 
luxury  on  the  part  of  their  possessor.  Such  are  the  French  bronzes,  and  especially 
the  Sevres  vases,  and  those  exquisite  combinations  of  porcelain  and  parian  exhibit- 
ed by  Messrs.  Minton.  Let  these  objects  and  the  centre  pieces  be  placed  to- 
gether, and  the  bullion  value  of  the  silver  for  the  moment  forgotten,  and,  we 


THE    NEW -YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


believe,  that  there  are  few  indeed  who  would  not  instinct- 
ively choose  the  quiet,  harmonious  beauty  of  the  bronze 
and  porcelain  in  preference  to  the  others'  pretentious 
glitter  and  tinsel  magnificence. 

The  statue  of  Rebecca  is  exhibited  by  Enrico  Vasse 


of  Florence. 

A  trrund  Pianoforte  cased  in  rosewood  is  exhibited 
by  J.  Bassford,  of  New-York. 

We  have  been  unable  to  obtain  any  satisfactory  sta- 
tistics of  the  number  and  value  of  the  pianofortes  manu- 


factured in  this  country,  but  from  the  number  of  person* 
engaged  ill  the  sale  of  them,  and  from  the  statements  of 
individual  makers,  it  seems  to  be  in  a  highly  prosperous 
condition.  Under  whatever  aspect  the  piano  is  con- 
sidered, it  must  be  ranked  as  the  first  and  most  important 


instrument  of  music.  Its  power  of  tone  and  expression 
adapt  it  to  every  style  of  musical  composition;  it  con- 
tains an  orchestra  within  itself.    It  is  always  ready  for 


struments,  nor  liable  to  lose  its  pitch  from  accidental 
causes.  It  is  the  instrument  best  suited  to  give  instruc- 
tion ;  the  number  of  teachers  of  the  piano  is  something 


use,  neither  requiring  the  constant  adjustment  of  other  wonderful,  and  its  pupils  comprehend,  with  B  few  singu 
stringed  instruments,  nor  tasking  the  lungs  like  wind  in-  lar  exceptions,  all  who  study  music.    From  these  causes 


the  manufacture  of  pianos  has  become  a  trade  of  national 
importance,  and  it  exercises  a  controlling  influence  over 
cognate  trades ;  three  fourths  of  the  music  sold  in  the 
shops  is  adapted  to  the  pianoforte. 

When  harmony  began  to  be  cultivated  in  music,  and 


the  pleasure  to  be  derived  from  it  became  complicated 
and  refined,  the  piano  was  invented.  The  first  instru- 
ment whose  strings  were  vibrated  by  hammers  instead 
of  pleetrums,  was  made  by  Marius,  in  Paris,  in  1716. 
The  piano  early  became  a  favorite  and  indispensable  aid 


to  the  composers  of  music,  who  found  it  a  substitute  for 
the  orchestras,  whose  services  few  composers  have  been 
in  a  situation  to  command.  They  have  repaid  their  ob- 
ligations by  thoroughly  testing  and  improving  its  capa- 
bilities, and  by  writing  for  it  many  of  their  best  and 
195 


most  beautiful  compositions. 

The  Axminster  Carpet  is  manufactured  and  exhibited 
by  Messrs.  Templeton  A  Co,  of  Glasgow.  The  design  16 
liable  to  the  objections  urged  against  the  example  en- 
graved on  page  167  of  this  work. 


T  1IK    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL    N  A  T  I  O  N  S  . 


One  of  the  iiR»t  faultless  and  exquisitely  executed  works  which  Italy,  the  home 

of  the  Fine  Arts,  lias  contributed  to  our  Crystal  Palace,  is  the  bust  commencing  this 


page.  The  bridal  wreath  Indicates  the  name — The  Betrothed — which  the  sculptor 
Pasquali:  Ro.uaxei.li,  of  Florence,  has  imposed  upon  his  work.    The  face  deserves 


every  praise  for  its  singular  sweetness  of  expression,  as  if  all  the  virtues  and  graces  of 
woman  belonged  to  the  soul  that  should  animate  a  face  m>  sweet  and  fair.    It  is  no 


unworthy  rival  and  companion  of  the  Proserpine  of  Powers,  of  which  we  give  here  :i 
new  engraving. 


An  Aciifis  iN  Carpet,  meritorious  for  iis  workmanship  and  harmony  of  colors,  is  |  exhibited  l>y  the  manufacturer,  M.  Amex \m>kk  Braquexte,  of  Paris. 

ion 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


The  genius  of  Hiram  Powers  is  represented  in  the  New- York  Exhibition  by  four 
of  his  works — The  Fisher  Boy  and  bust  of  Proserpine  already  engraved,  and  Kve 
and  the  Greek  Slave  which  adorn  this  page  of  the  Record.  Ihe  latter  is  still  the 
property  of  the  sculptor;  the  Eve  was  placed  in  the  Crystal  Palace  by  the  courtesy 
of  CoL  John  L.  Preston,  of  Columbus,  South  Carolina,  and  until  now  has  never  been 
exhibited  to  the  public. 

So  many  of  the  works  of  Powers  were  never  before  assembled  except  in  his  own 
studio;  and  in  respect  to  sculpture  generally,  the  collection  is  one  of  unexampled 
richness  and  extent  in  this  country.  That  it  has  had,  and  will  continue  to  have  its 
appropriate  influence  in  forming  and  directing  the  public  taste  cannot  be  doubted. 
For  obvious  reasons  Americans  have  enjoyed  very  few  opportunities  of  seeing  sculp- 
tures of  real  merit.    Probably,  Italian  image  boys  are  the  only  missionaries  of  art 


The  Eve,  like  the  Greek  Slave,  is  a  reproduction  of  the  antique.  Con uoisseuis.  whose 
judgment  we  respect,  sav  that  "our  sculptor's  great  power  resides  in  his  imitative 
faculty,  and  the  patient  skill  with  which  he  manipulates  the  surface  of  the  marble. 
So  modern  artist  has  succeeded  so  perfectly  in  giving  to  his  statues  the  peculiar 
and  indescribable  look  of  flesh,  equally  removed  from  the  roughness  of  stone  and  the 
glossy  polish  of  porcelain.  li  s  elastic  muscle  seems  as  if  it  would  yield  to  the 
touch."  The  marble  has  that  delicate  softness,  w  hich  after  all,  is  the  peculiar  and 
most  imperishable  charm  of  the  most  beautiful  woman.    The  imagination  or  creative 


who  have  found  their  way  to  the  majority.  To  thousands,  then,  of  his  countrymen 
these  works  of  Powers  have  been  a  revelation  of  beautv,  not  less  instructivethau 
delightful.  We  may  be  sure  that  af*<  r  this  practical  acquaintance  with  art,  they  will 
have  clearer  notions  of  its  capabilities,  and  appreciate  better  the  skill,  enthusiasm, 
and  genius  of  the  artist. 

The  Greek  Slave  has  been  frequently  described,  and  we  need  not  repeat  here  the 
familiar  story  which  she  is  designed  to  represent.  It  was  this  statue  that  first  intro- 
duced the  name  ami  merits  of  Powers  to  the  Knglish  public,  and  it  has  probablv  con- 
tributed most  to  his  popular  fame. 


faculty  in  Powers  i-  far  inferior  to  his  manipulative  skill.  While  this  is  perfect,  his 
invention  is  only  mediocre.  The  deficiency  is  apparent  in  each  of  the  four  works  ex- 
hibited, but  is  most  striking  in  the  Eve.  The  face  has  no  meaning.  The  body,  the 
limbs  are  the  perfection  of  physical  beauty,  but  the  beautiful  soul  that  should  animate 
so  much  loveliness  is  wanting.  She  is  not  the  mythological  Eve.  She  is  not  the 
"fairest  of  her  daughters "  whom  Milton  sung.  But  failing  in  imaginative  works. 
Powers  surpasses  all  other  sculptors  in  re|n-oducing  nature.  His,  portrait  busts  are 
perfect — the  features  and  the  character  are  given  by  him  with  all  the  fidelity  of  life. 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


The  illustrations  upon  this  nnd  the  opposite  page  of 
the  Record,  have  been  selected  from  the  small  but  choice 
collection  of  SEVRES  PORCELAIN,  contributed  to  the  Exhi- 


bition by  the  Government  of  France.  The  varied  na- 
ture of  these  articles,  their  graceful  forms,  and  the  per- 
fect propriety  as  well  as  beauty  of  their  decorations,  are 


represented,  as  far  as  unculored  illustrations  can  repre 
6ent  them,  by  our  engravings. 

The  porcelain  of  Sevres  is  the  perfection  of  the  cera 


mic  art,  and  while  it  would  be  superfluous  to  praise 
works  which  have  so  long  been  the  acknowledged  stand- 


ards of  excellence,  it  may  be  useful  to  state  how  that 
enviable  distinction  has  been  obtained.     In  1710,  the 


successful  experiments  of  Bottcher,  in  Saxony,  stimulated 
the  manufacturers  of  France  to  attempt  the  production 


tu"t\7!flif°™  °f  °r!ental  China>  Their  eff0rts  re'  I  ,ain'  called  V^-^dre,  or  Old  Sevres.  It  was  first  manu- 
suitea  in  the  discovery  of  a  new  composition  for  porce-  |  factured  at  St.  Cloud;  afterwards  at  Chautilly,  by  work- 


men trained  at  the  former  place;  and  in  1745.  the  pro-  I  the  Minister  of  Finance.  In  1753  Louis  XV  became 
pnetor,  M.  Gravant,  sold  the  secret  to  the  Marquis  d'Orry,  |  one  third  owner  of  the  establishment,  and  gave  it  the 


Wi/W'-'  ';i|iir  1      '  * •  vi. 


title  of  Royal  Manufactory;  in  the  following  year  the  I  other  shares  being  bought  by  the  king,  it  was  placed  un- 
factory  was  transferred  to  S6vrcs,  and  six  years  after,  the  |  der  the  sole  direction  and  patronage  of  the  government. 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


During  all  subsequent  public  changes  and  revolutions  it  France,  that  they  have  uniformly  encouraged  public  in- 
has  continued  under  the  same  fostering  care ;  for  it  is  dustrial  institutions  with  a  free  and  efficient  liberality, 
the  peculiar  honor  of  the  successive  governments  of    and  by  employing  tne  best  artists  and  scientific  men  to 


T^le  m-aif0U?Ct"ire  °{  Porcelaine  dure  at  Sevres  was  be-  I  tirely  superseded  the  tender  variety  already  mentioned 
jun  in  1/68  by  the  chemist  Macquer,  and  in  1805  en-  |  All  the  articles  in  the  Exhibition  are  of  the  hard  porce- 


lain. Its  composition  is  usually,  Kaolin  (China  clay),  48 
parts ;  sand,  48  parts ;  and  chalk,  4  parts.  These  ma- 
terials are  ground  to  very  fine  powder  with  water,  and, 


the  excess  of  water  being  removed,  the  slip  is  passed 
through  the  mill,  and  is  ready  for  turning,  moulding,  and 
casting,  by  which  operations,  single,  or  combined,  all 


direct  and  improve  them,  have  made  the  workshops  of 
France  the  schools  of  taste  and  excellence  for  the  work- 
men of  the  world. 


the  objects  must  be  produced.  Handles  and  other  or 
namental  parts  are  cast  separately,  and  afterwards  at- 
tached.    The  vessels   after  being  baked  are  termed 


biscuit,  and  are  opaque,  porous,  and  absorbent.  They 
*re  then  dipped  into  a  liquid  glaze  of  feldspar  and  alkali, 
and  exposed  to  the  intense  heat  of  the  glazing  kiln,  from 


which  they  emerge  milky  white,  and  with  a  surface  like 
polished  marble.    The  glaze  is  a  true  glass  which  flows 
into  pores  of  the  biscuit,  and  forms  with  it  a  homogeneous 
199 


War 


body.  The  colors  used  in  the  painting  are  all  metallic  oxyds, 
ground  up  with  a  flux  of  red  lead,  borax,  and  flint,  which 
are  vitrified  and  made  imperishable  by  another  firing 


TH  E    INDUS  T  K  Y    OF    ALL    N  A  TIONS. 


The  beautiful  engraving  which  commences  this  page, 
is  a  faithful  copy  in  every  thing  except  rolor,  of  one  of  the 


Gobelins  Tapestries  exhibited  by  order  of  the  French  Gov- 
ernment.   Though  possibly  it  may  not  be  the  most  meri- 


torious in  nn  artistic  and  technical  point  of  view,  it  appears 
to  ns  the  most  pleasing  of  the  tapestries  that  grace  our 


Crystal  Palace.  The  subject  is  taken  from  .Esop's  apo- 
logue of  the  The  Wolf  and  the  Lamb,  a  favorite  in  the 
boyish  days  of  every  one,  and  none  the  less  popular, 
when  a  mature  experience  has  confirmed  its  truthful  pic- 


A  WoBK  Table,  carved  in  Ebony,  with  the  rich  and 
grotesque  ornaments  invented  by  the  fertile  fancy  of 
incdia  val  decorators,  is  exhibited  by  the  designer  and 
manufacturer,  Caul  Hjlof.u,  of  Diisscldorf. 


ture  of  the  pretexts  which  tyranny  invents,  when  it 
wishes  to  trample  upon  defenceless  innocence.  This 
piece  was  executed  in  1842  by  Thiers,  after  a  painting  by 
besportes. 


The  group  of  sculpture  called  Cfi'in  Captive,  is  the 
work  of  an  eminent  Belgian  sculptor,  M.  Fralkin.  The 
composition  of  this  group,  especially  the  upper  part,  is 
very  graceful,  and  is  deserving  of  high  praise. 


THE    NEW-YOKK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


I 


A  bas-relief  in  plaster,  designed  for  an  architectural 
ornament,  and  called  a  Lyric  Centre,  is  contributed  to 
the  Exhibition  by  the  designer  and  manufacturer, 
Thomas  Heath,  of  Philadelphia.    It  consists  of  two  cir- 


lain  exquisitely  painted,  and  set  in  a  gilt  border.  It 
is  supported  by  three  curved  and  foliated  gilt  stems 
which  rise  from  a  metallic  triangular  base.  They  sup- 
port at  the  centre  a  globe  of  rich  blue  porcelain  set 


eles  of  portrait  busts  interspersed  with  decorative  de 
signs  having  reference  to  music.  In  the  larger  circle  wi 
recognise  busts  of  Jenny  Lind,  Anna  Bishop,  Miss  Hayes, 
<tc ;  in  the  inner  circle,   Sontag,  Alboiii,  Badiali,  Ac 


The  centre  is  six  feet  in  diameter. 

Another  object  deserving  great  praise  for  its  beauty 
and  the  perfection  of  its  workmanship,  is  the  Table  on 
the  left  of  the  page.    Its  top  is  a  circular  plate  of  porce- 


with  gilt  stars.    It  is  exhibited  by  La  Hoche. 

Cornelius  <fc  Co.,  of  Philadelphia,  exhibit  a  bronze 
gilt  Candelabrum,  which  by  removing  the  top,  may  also 
serve  as  a  centre-dish. 


•  •  •       •    .  _  y  I.-..-- 


A  rich  and  highly  finished  example  of  buhl  furni- 
ture is  exhibited  by  Ringlet  Le  1'rince  &  Co.  The  com- 
panion cabinet  has  been  engraved  on  a  previous  page. 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


We  employ  this  page  to  represent  a  specimen  of  Pa-  selected  from  the  contributions  of  Messrs.  Morant  <St  total  decorations,  designed  to  cover  the  wall  and  adorn 
i-EK  Hangings,    exhibited  by  Juucs  Desfossk,  of  Puiis.    Boyd,  of  London.  it,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  paintings  and  similar  objects 

The  opposite  page  is  occupied  with  another  example,  I       Both  of  these  specimens  are  examples  of  architec-    of  taste.    Paper  hangings  of  this  description  are  admis- 


!1 


WBiaffiBtiiiiii 


Bible  in  public  hnlls  and  saloons,  and  sometimes  perhaps  I  sidence.  A  drawing-room,  library,  or  chamber  requires  i  of  the  walls  should  have  the  same  relation  to  the  furni- 
10  the  entrance-hall,  but  not  elsewhere,  of  a  private  re-  |  a  different  treatment.    In  such  a  situation  the  covering  |  ture,  objects  of  art,  and  oocupants  of  the  apartment, 

202 


THE    NEW-YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTHATEU. 


that  a  background  sustains  in  a  good  picture,  not  over- 
powering the  principal  figures  and  drawing  attention 


away  from  them,  but  enriching  their  effect,  and  supporting  I  scapes,  therefore,  whether  large  or  small,  group?  of  figures, 
and  aiding  in  the  general  beauty  or  magnificence.    Land-  |  imitative  carving  and  panelling,  et  id  genus  omne,  should 


■  ■■■■I  I  ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■  [|  ■  ■  ■■  I  ■  i  ■  ■■■■■■■■■ 


Iw  carefully  avoided  in  paper  hangings;  on  the  contrary, 
their  decorations  should  be  subdued  in  color,  flat  and 
conventional  in  design,  and  entirely  free  from  imitative 
light  and  shade.     Few  things  are  more  unpleasing  to 


a  cultivated  eye  than  the  bunches  of  gaudy  flowers 
and  foliage  perspectively  rendered  in  the  intensest  colors, 
and  the  landscapes,  repeated  with  endless  iteration  on 
the  walls.   This  may  be  called  a  petty  offence  against 

SOS 


good  taste,  but  trifling  anuoyances  are  at  length  intolerable 
when  it  is  difficult  or  impossible  to  avoid  their  constant 
repetition. 


T  H  K    INUUSTK  V    OF    ALL    N  A  TIO  X  S  . 


» 


\V<  bare  already  engraved  several  specimens  of  marble  Mantlkpuscks,  of  which  I  ciiiani,  of  Florence.  It  is  of  white  marble;  t lie  sculpture,  at  tlie  top  is  from  Uuidos 
the  exhibition  furnishes  a  fair  variety.    This  one  is  contributed  bv  Fhamksco  Pac-  |  Aurora.    The  whole  design  is  graceful  and  elegant 

2nt 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


We  introduce  upon  this  page  two  examples  of  Terra-Cotta  Casings,  which  may  1  Alexander  Young,  of  New-York.  The  ease  with  which  it  may  assume  any  required 
be  used  either  for  doorways  or  windows.   They  are  exhibited  by  the  manufacturer,    constructive  form,  its  strength,   and  especially  its  fire-proof  qualities,  commend 


casings  of  this  material  to  our  builders,  and  we  hope  to  see  them  come  into  ex  The  eminent  nianfacturers  of  mirror  frames,  Messrs.  E.  Xewland  <fc  Co.,  of  Ph in- 
tensive use.  [  delphia,  exhibit  the  large  and  massive  Mantle  Mibror,  which  we  here  engrave.  Its 


style  is  renaissance,  characterized  by  its  usual  scroll  work  with  figures  interspersed.  I  cution  of  this  frame  is  of  undisputable  excellence.  The  mirror  plate,  which  is  of  the 
Upon  the  arch  there  is  a  copy  of  the  Amazonian  group  of  Kiss.    The  mechanical  exe-    finest  glass  manufactured  at  St,  Gobain,  measures  62  inches  by  84  inches. 

205 


THE  INDUSTRY 


OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


A  conspicuous  ornament  of  the  West  Nave  of  the  Crystal  Palace  ia  the  richly 
decorated  Door,  which  we  here  engrave.  It  is  cast-iron  heavily  gilt,  and  its  panels  are 


filled  with  plate  glass.  It  is  exhibited  by  J.  Audanel  &  Co.,  of  Paris,  and  is  one  of  a 
set  made  for  a  summer  palace  of  the  Pasha  of  Egypt. 


1 


This  nnd  the  subsequent  pages  contain  the  select  contributions  of  Messrs.  Klking- 
ton  &  Co.,  of  Birmingham  and  London. 

206 


Tne  first  engraving  represents  a  bronze  statuette,  Cupid  with  tub  Lyre,  an  electro- 
type copy  after  Thorwaldsen. 


It  is  followed  by  a  Race  Plate,  designed  by  Gunkel.  The  Iliad  Salver,  electrotyped 
in  solid  silver,  represents  the  prayer  of  Thetis  to  Jupiter,  with  scenes  from  Homer 


THE    NEW -  YORK    EXHIBITION  ILLUSTRATED. 


in  the  border.  The  Sideboard  Pisn,  electrotyped  from  the 
original  in  the  museum  of  the  Louvre,  was  made  for  the 


centre,  over  the  four  elements,  represented  in  the  bas- 
reliefs  of  the  inner  ring.    The  eight  subjects  of  the  outer 


ring  typify  as  many  branches  of  science  and  art.  These 
salvers  are  works  of  exquisite  beauty,  and  exhibit  the 


highest  attainment  of  the  art  of  electrotyping  as  applied 
to  the  production  of  works  of  art    The  simultaneous  in- 


ed  with  wonderful  rapidity,  and  has  been  brought  to 
such  perfection,  that  looking  at  its  results  in  the  works 


exhibited  by  Mm  Elkington,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how 
it  can  be  improved.  This  firm  employ  about  500  work- 
men at  Birmingham,  executing  the  designs  of  some  of  the 


best  artists  of  the  day.  About  30  other  English  m» 
nufacturers  are  licensed  to  use  the  process.  Electro 
typy  is  one  of  the  most  valued  gifts  which  science  has 


conferred  upon  art,  since  it  brings  the  most  magnificent 
works,  such  as  formerly  only  the  wealthiest  could  obtain, 
within  the  reach  of  all  lovers  of  art. 


SOI 


THE    INDUSTRY    OF    ALL  NATIONS. 


pag 

ft  d< 


The  objects  which  fill 
solves  sufficiently  without 

leave  them,  however,  without  directing  attention  to  the 
fine  workmanship  of  the  Vases  rind  Decanters  mounted 


e  207,  explain  them- 
oscription.    We  cannot 


is  thought  to  be  good. 

Between  these  objects  is  a  silver  .Sideboard  Ewer, 


in  silver.  The  small  Antique  Vase  with  a  bas-relief  rep- 
resenting a  procession,  is  also  ft  work  of  perfect  beauty. 


named  The  Challenge,  which  is  the  last  of  our  selections 
from  the  imposing  aDd  magnificent  collection  of  plate, 


Tt  is  executed  m  oxydized  silver.  On  this  concluding 
page,  we  have  engraved  a  Fruit  Dish  of  graceful  shape 
executed  in  silver.  Opposite  is  a  bronze  bust  of  the 
Duke  of  Wellington,  modelled  by  Weigall.    The  likeness 


contributed  to  our  Crystal  Palace  by  Messrs.  Garrard 
of  London. 


% 


WSv. 


A  At I  J 


